GSNorCal Fall Take Action Program
October 3, 2020–November 22, 2020!

Fall Take Action Program

Girl participation in the Fall Take Action Program is an important Community Service piece of the Essential Girl Scout Experience and supports our 100+ year history of leading change and making positive differences in local communities and around the world. Taking part in the program gives girls the opportunity and equity to give back to their community while funding their dreams of making a difference.

Each fall, entrepreneurs take action to support conservation efforts for endangered species. During our Fall 2019 program, girls were inspired by Najin and Fatu, the only two Northern White Rhinos left in the world, and donated over $3,500 to support rhino conservation and their two favorite local rhinos, Boone and Gauhati, at the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens.

Our 2020 take action program conservation focus is the critically endangered Pygmy Three-toed Sloth. Evaluations vary, but the most recent count estimates that there are less than 100 in the world, due to habitat loss. 

Through Girl Scout experiences like the Fall Take Action Program girls develop the attitudes, skills, and behaviors they need to succeed in life—giving them the courage to fail and keep trying, the tools to create an independent future, and the power to do good in the world.

We’re excited to bring our entrepreneurs together again to support conservation efforts by donating to Plant Sloth-friendly Trees, Adopting Sloths, and Building Safe Sloth Crossings.

Participation Benefits (for Juliettes, too!)

All participating girls receive these benefits:

Entrepreneurial Mindset - Girls develop curiosity, take initiative, and learn to collaborate with others while learning about and supporting sloths to make a global impact.
Animal Conservation - Girls offset their carbon footprint and impact the environment while helping to save sloths by planting sloth-friendly trees.
Sisterhood - Girls become a part of something bigger than themselves when partnering with their Girl Scout sisters to Adopt-a-Sloth and build Sloth Crossings.
Volunteers - One and done for troop volunteers with all payments online.

Did you know girls may participate in the Fall Take Action Program individually as a Juliette? It’s easy and it’s fun!

Juliette girls are eligible for all the same incredible rewards progression.
Juliette girls receive proceeds on a reward card:

fall-take-action-program-juliette-reward-card-proceeds

Parent or guardian supports their Juliette as a volunteer in M2--the product management system.

If you haven’t already received the email to participate or would like more information on how to participate as a Juliette, contact Kirsten Stephenson at kstephenson@gsnorcal.org. For more information about being a Juliette, contact info@gsnorcal.org.

How to Adopt an Entrepreneurial Mindset

An entrepreneur uses creativity and imagination to figure out new, innovative ways to solve problems, evolve ideas and methods, or build a business to meet those needs.  Every girl can benefit, maybe even discover what she’s passionate about, by learning to think like an entrepreneur:

Be curious
Embrace challenge
Take initiative
Collaborate with others
Take creative risks
See failing as learning
Adapt to change

Why is entrepreneurship important for girls?  Having an entrepreneurial mindset prepares girls for a successful education, a career of their choosing, and the skills needed to tackle challenges they’re most passionate about.  In short, it balances the scales and readies them for today’s world.

Take a Closer Look!

Today’s Girls, Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs – Transforming interest and aptitude into success interactive website
Entrepreneurship – Girl Scout entrepreneurship pillar

Key Dates

Activity	Date
Virtual Fall Digital Day	October 3
Online shops open for shipping, donate, and girl delivery	October 3-24
Online shops open for ship and donate only	October 25 - November 22

Helpful Resources

Contact M2 Customer Care directly for support with M2’s technology system, customer orders, and personalized avatar patches. Hours are Monday-Friday 5 AM-7 PM PST, Saturdays 5 AM-5 PM PST.

COVID-19 Safety Guidance

The 2020 Fall Take Action Program has been thoughtfully redesigned to meet the needs of girl, volunteer, family, and community safety amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Girls may participate in the fall program by learning about sloth conservation and launching their online shop through the M2 system. In-person activities related to the program are restricted to individual households and should remain contactless.

In-person contactless activities include porch product deliveries and distribution of marketing materials to promote girl businesses. In-person contactless activities do not include in-person transactions or stationary public booths.

Girls and adults should adhere to all GSNorCal COVID-19 Guidance prior to engaging in contactless product deliveries and/or marketing material distribution. We recommend all customer purchases be transacted through girls' online shops, ensuring contactless financial transactions. Should a girl and adult choose to accept cash or check as payment tender in rare circumstances, we recommend appropriate safety precautions be taken. We also encourage parents to deposit these physical payments into their personal account then electronically transfer the funds to their troop volunteer in order to reduce touchpoints.

Service unit volunteers will contact their troops directly with COVID-19 guidance for physical product pickups in early November, as appropriate.

Fall Take Action Project

Be the difference and take action this fall! Join your sister GSNorCal entrepreneurs in partnering with the Sloth Conservation Foundation to support sloth conservation efforts by planting sloth-friendly trees, adopting sloths, and building safe sloth crossings #slothconservation. And check out the sloth cam at Hattiesburg Zoo!

Meet the Pygmy Three-toed Sloths, found in just one place in the entire world, remote Isla Escudo de Veraguas (ees-lah ehs-koo-doh deh beh-rah-gwahs) off the coast of Panama. They are the smallest of the Three-toed Sloths, about 40% smaller than their mainland cousins, and the smallest population too, with estimates of about 100 remaining in the wild! Famous for being so slow-moving that algae grow in their fur, sloths sleep about 15 hours per day and are surprisingly good at swimming. Red mangrove trees, the pygmy sloth’s main food source and camouflage protection from predators, are being destroyed by island visitors, reducing the sloths’ already small habitat and food source.

Girl Conservation

By electing to donate any amount of their recognitions from the program to planting sloth-friendly trees, girls will have the opportunity to support conservation and spread the word about the need to protect the pygmy sloths.

Troop Conservation

Your troop can safeguard a future for these amazing animals by adopting a sloth! 100% of all proceeds from the Sloth Conservation Foundation adopt-a-sloth kit go towards funding their in-field sloth conservation programs. Troops who have 100% of troop girls send 15+ emails plus have $1,000 in total sales will choose a sloth to adopt PLUS receive sloth socks for each girl. Sloths for adoption:

STAR

A tough three-fingered sloth who has had terrible luck as a mother. Star was the first female sloth to be tagged and monitored as part of the long-running Sloth Backpack Project and by following her story, biologists have learned huge amounts about sloth behavior in the wild!

BECKETT

A very wild two-fingered sloth! Beckett was the first two-fingered sloth to be tagged and monitored for the Sloth Backpack Project. She is a strong, feisty female who poses a serious challenge to biologists!

QUATRO

A very unusual three-fingered sloth. Quatro, a handsome male sloth, was rescued by the Costa Rican fire service after finding himself in an uncomfortable position. He is also the first documented sloth to have four toes!

ALI & JESSICA

Two-fingered sloths (mother and baby). Ali and Jessica are fortunate to be here today after many years of struggling to cope with the rapidly expanding human population encroaching into their territory.

JACK

An indestructible two-fingered sloth. A true survivor after enduring a shock from power lines so strong that it would have killed most animals. Adopt Jack and learn all about his inspiring story of recovery and bravery.

SU Conservation

Your service unit can build a sloth crossing when 50% of girls send 15+ emails! Without a natural or artificial canopy bridge, the only way sloths can cross a road is by crawling which takes a lot of time and energy and leaves them very vulnerable to predators and human disturbance. Each sloth crossing will include a personalized wooden plaque next to the bridge and a follow-up email with photos of finished bridge and plaque.

M2 Mobile-Optimized Online Shops

Through our M2 Online Shops platform, not only do girls design their own avatar, they can sell in their sleep! It takes less than 7 minutes to launch their online shop. Girls engage their family and friends, inviting them to support their goals of community connection and financial empowerment. Want to sell nearly triple the yummy treats? Girls who upload their own video to personally connect with their customers do, all while funding their dreams and advocating for supporting the Pygmy Three-toed Sloths. Better yet, her shop is mobile-optimized, so she can even run her business from a tablet or smart phone.

Girls can learn and do more with M2:

Celebrate Girl Scout Sisterhood to take action to help save endangered sloths.
Manage her online shop from her virtual office.
Personalize her Me2 avatar and wear proudly her two earned avatar patches.
Take her entrepreneurship online, utilizing technology as a tool to reach her dreams.
Allow her customers the option for in-person delivery until 10/24 or shipped directly through late November, in time for the holidays.
Take group photos with her troop’s avatars.
Design her avatar’s virtual room.

Fun Sloth Activities

Care to Share is GSNorCal’s service project in which we share our delicious products with the community! Girls sell virtual items to be donated by the council to local organizations, such as food banks, military bases, and other hometown heroes, at the end of the program.

$8 per item, no specific variety
Available online and in-person
Per IRS regulations, all donations collected while participating in product programs should be toward Care to Share

Plus, girls who sell 5+ Care to Share items earn an exclusive patch AND Bravely Be You necklace!

Fall Take Action Program Challenge

Calling all Girl Scout entrepreneurs! Show us your go-getter spirit by entering our 2020 Fall Take Action Program November Challenge. Read the contest rules below and enter for a chance to win!

Sloth Sightings Challenge

Follow along on Instagram while our Mama Sloth explores our council! She will be traveling across our 19 counties and sharing pictures along the way. Can you guess where she is? Girls share one guess per picture and all correct guesses will be tallied by region at the end of our Fall Take Action Program. Five lucky girls will win their own Mama Sloth, one from each council region: East Bay/Solano, North Central, North Coast, Redwoods, South Bay/Peninsula. Wait, it gets even more exciting! One girl with the most correct guesses in our council will win our 4-foot-tall Super Sloth!

Learn more about the Pygmy three-toed Sloth.

Here’s how the challenge works:

Once a day, Monday through Friday between 11/1-11/22 we will post a photo with a hint of the location to our Instagram Stories at 12:00 PM PST. Using the link provided, girls (or a parent/guardian submitting on behalf of their Girl Scout) will submit their guess to the location along with their full name, troop number, and troop region. On 11/30, the girl with the most correct answers in each region will win a Mama Sloth stuffed animal and the girl with the most correct answers in council will win the Super Sloth stuffed animal. If multiple girls have the same number of correct answers, a randomizer will be used to generate the winner.

IMPORTANT: Entrant must submit an entrance form to qualify. Replies/messages to the Instagram Story will not be considered.

The Sloth Sightings challenge will end on 12:00 PM PST on November 23, 2020, 24 hours after the last post is shared on GSNorCal’s Instagram Stories.

Contest Rules

Entrant must be a currently registered Girl Scout with the Girl Scouts of Northern California (GSNorCal) Council to participate. The contest is for GSNorCal girl members only (not adult volunteers).
Parents/guardians or troop volunteers can assist their Girl Scouts in viewing the Instagram Story and/or submitting an entrance form on behalf of their Girl Scout, but the entries must be in the girls’ own words.
Maximum of 1 entry per girl per picture.
One girl from each GSNorCal council region (5 total girls) will win the Mama Sloth and one girl will win the Giant Sloth. In the case of multiple girls having the same number of correct answers, a randomizer will be used.

Read the official rules for details.

Thanks for your support and participation in the Fall Take Action Program!

Please contact us at info@gsnorcal.org if you have any questions.

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