[contextazon id=’1′]Ask a girl what Girl Scouting means to her and the first thing she’s likely to say is, “Fun!” While that’s certainly true, many girls will also tell you that Girl Scouting is where they learn about community service—what it is, and how it can change the world.
“When you get an idea that will do good, follow it up, and don’t fear that because it is only you, it cannot succeed.”
—Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low
Making The World Better
Service is an inherent part of Girl Scouting. No matter at what age a girl joins, she can share in meaningful projects that promote civic responsibility and see how her efforts can impact her community. At the Daisy Girl Scout level, community service can include simple things like planting flowers in abandoned lots and visiting senior centers.Teen and young adult girls create innovative projects that change people’s lives.
Girls can earn related badges and awards like the Lead On Badge or the Leadership Interest Project Award.The most coveted distinctions are the Girl Scout Gold Award, the Girl Scout Silver Award, and the Girl Scout Bronze Award. Local councils across the country award them to girls who have completed exceptional projects that respond to needs within the community.
Girl Scout Gold Awards are given to girls ages 14 to 17,many of whom perform unbelievably ambitious projects. One honoree developed a project to provide
free eye care to residents of a village in India. Another developed a series of self-defense classes for homeless women living in a shelter for victims of
physical abuse.
And the teens are not the only ones with great ambition. A Breast Cancer patch program designed by a Junior Girl Scout troop in Ohio showcases community-minded thinking. After participating in a breastcare awareness project, girls became immersed and developed a local Girl Scout patch program.
Sketching the design, structuring the program, and researching and writing the educational pamphlet — they did it all.
