Girl Scouts receive Disney Summer of Service grant to clean up park

Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 53510 of Burgettstown have been awarded a Disney Summer of Service grant through Youth Service America (YSA), which will support the troop in cleaning up the local Langeloth Community Park. 

The girls are looking for volunteers to help them at the park cleanup on  Saturday, March 4 at 1 p.m. (rain date, March 5). 

With the help of volunteers, the girls will work together to clean the graffiti off of the playground equipment as well as to clean up any trash surrounding the area. They are also using portions of the grant funding to purchase items that will hopefully sustain the park's cleanliness. Water, hot chocolate, coffee and light refreshments will be available to all volunteers who come out to help with the project.

These Girl Scouts are one of 340 young leaders across the country awarded a $500 Disney Summer of Service grant to organize projects to help make their communities healthier, greener and stronger. Grantees will educate and mobilize their peers around the issue of global awareness, creating solutions to environmental cleanliness through awareness, service, advocacy, and philanthropic activities. 

The park cleanup is also part of the troop's Bronze Award project.  

If you're interested in volunteering, please contact Cortney McConnell, troop leader, at gstroop53510@gmail.com.

Celebrate Girl Scout Week like a G.I.R.L.!

Yay—Girl Scout Week is almost here! Let’s get ready for that special time of year when Girl Scouts of all ages celebrate and show the world what it means to be a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™.
 
Download the calendar above for ideas for celebrating all week long!

And if you're attending your place of worship on Girl Scout Sunday, download and print these Girl Scout Sunday handouts and bulletin inserts to help spread the word about Girl Scouting and faith.

It's Crunch Time!

The 2017 Girl Scout Cookie season is in the final stretch, so it's more important than ever to take advantage of all the great resources and promotions available to help your girls reach their cookie goals!

Remember, if your troop’s per-girl average is 175 boxes or more, you’ll reach Super Troop status, and earn an additional 5 cents for every box of cookies you sell. You can do it--and here's everything you need to know to get there!

Booth Sales
Booth sales (happening now through March 20) are a great way to take your troop’s cookie sales to amazing new heights and help girls develop the five essential skills for success!
Check out our booth sale printables to use at your booth, including banners, Operation: Sweet Appreciation box wraps and more.

Bling Your Booth!
A blinged out and bedazzled cookie booth is a great way to draw in cookie customers. But it can also be a way to earn awesome prizes or money for your troop when you enter GSWPA's Bling Your Booth contest and GSUSA's Cookie Troop 100 contest! Find out more. 

Need some bling-spiration? Check out our Bling Your Booth Pinterest board.

Operation: Sweet Appreciation
Girls who participate in Operation: Sweet Appreciation or another Gift of Caring program sell an average of 70 more boxes than girls who don't participate. OSA donations can be made at booth sales, through your girl’s Digital Cookie site or online at gswpa.org/military. Check out these OSA printables to use at booth sales to encourage people to donate.

5 for Five Contest
Who wouldn’t LOVE to win five cases of Girl Scout Cookies? Encourage customers to buy five boxes of cookies to enter to win five cases through our 5 for Five contest! Just give them a 5 for Five certificate (available on vipetraining.littlebrownie.com or through your troop cookie manager). It includes instructions and an exclusive code for entering the contest. 

Digital Cookie is still open for business!
Remember, girls can still take orders online through their Digital Cookie site through March 19.

Follow up!
Have girls reconnect with their customers toward the end of the sale. Customers may have eaten all their cookies and want to purchase more to last until next year. (We all know that Thin Mints are even better frozen!)

Important Dates

March 19: Last day for booth sales and cookie sales

Feb. 24-May 29: Operation: Sweet Appreciation donations accepted online at gswpa.org/military

March 26: GSWPA Bling Your Booth contest submissions due.

April 30: GSUSA Cookie Troop 100 contest submissions due.

Troop helping troops: Girl Scouts 'adopt' military platoon deployed overseas

Daisy Troop 27074 of Jeanette has been working on projects throughout the year to show their appreciation for our nation's military. And now they're even getting some help from Girl Scout Flat Daisy, who has been sent to spread cheer to a U.S. Army platoon with the 110th Infantry Regiment stationed in Jordan. 

The girls' work to honor military and veterans started in November when the troop hosted their second annual Veteran's Day event, "Holding the Hand of My Hero." Each girl invited a family member or friend who is a veteran to join them for an evening of patriotic songs, readings and activities honoring U.S. military and veterans. The girls made sure each veteran left with a handmade craft, thank you card, patch--and a feeling of appreciation for their service.

That inspired the troop to find a way to extend their appreciation to active duty military deployed overseas. Troop Leader Jaclyn Robinson works with two soldiers serving with the 110th Infantry Regiment, one of them in a platoon that's currently deployed in Jordan. So she reached out to her co-worker's wife--who happens to be Miss Westmoreland County 2017--to help the troop send Valentine packages to the platoon. The 21 girls in the troop created Valentine cards and filled boxes with candy, stickers and self-inflating balloons. 

The troop also decided to send Flat Daisy to their "adopted" platoon to keep them company while they are away from their homes and loved ones. 

"Flat Daisy and the Valentine boxes just arrived to them and they are already making plans for her adventures!" said Robinson. The platoon and Flat Daisy are just outside Jordan's capital city of Amman, and will be traveling through Europe and parts of the United States as they make their way back to western Pennsylvania later this year.

"Our ultimate goal is to let the girls show their appreciation for our military personnel and to teach them about the sacrifices our heroes make for our country," said Troop Leader Jaclyn Robinson, "And most importantly to let them do all of this in their own age-appropriate way." 

Brownie acts fast to help mom

Annabella and her mom, Emily

Through Girl Scouts, girls of all ages are taught to help others in many different ways. Not only do they focus on being considerate, kind and helpful, but they also learn what to do in an emergency.

One Brownie Girl Scout had think fast to put what she learned into action during an early summer afternoon. 

On an otherwise quiet day in June, Annabella Becker witnessed her mother, Emily, having a seizure. Annabella, her brother, and her mother were alone when Emily fell unconscious onto the hardwood floor, hurting her head and back. 

Annabella knew what she had to do. She moved chairs away from her mother and put their two dogs into a room while waiting for first responders to arrive. Her brother ran to the neighbors for help and to call 911, while she remained with their mother. 

Annabella remained calm and reassuring during this scary time. Once the first responders arrived, she gave them room to help her mother and calmly answered their questions. 

Annabella stated, “I knew the EMS would help my mom because I learned that in Girl Scouts.” Annabella is recognized for her heroic action by her neighbors and Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania.

Well done, Annabella! We're so proud of you!