Community Service

Letter-Writing Service Project

The idea is simple: girls write letters to people in nursing homes, senior residences, and assisted living facilities, including the dedicated staff and caregivers. This long-distance hug is a way to share your good thoughts with these vulnerable and loved community members.

Here’s how it works:

1. Ask your girls (and their friends!) to write letters to senior and caretakers using our tips (PDF).
2. You can mail letters to one of the facilities (PDF) or reach out to a local assisted living center and find out how they would like to receive your troop’s letters. You could collect and deliver them (using no-contact practices), have girls mail them individually, or even deliver them via email. Don’t forget to include a note to tell the staff about the letters you’re sending (DOC).
3. Take a picture of your letter packet and post it to your social media networks using #GirlScoutsGiveBack (and be sure to tag us @girlscouts).
4. Don't forget to come back here and log the number of letters to add them to the national campaign! Let’s see how many letters of love and care our Movement can send!
5. If you wish to recognize your troop’s participation with a patch, we recommend this community service patch. 

 Check out some more detailed guidance (PDF).

Mask Making 

Now, with this nationwide mask-making campaign, all girls have the chance to step up to help their friends, neighbors, and frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we’ve partnered with Feeding America, a network of local food banks across the U.S., to make it easy for your girls to amplify their efforts.

Here’s how it works:

1. Ask your girls (and their friends!) to make masks for adults and kids. Use the instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If your troop chooses to make masks for other kids, use 7.5” x 9” cloth instead.
2. When you are ready to send your masks, you can include a letter like this (PDF).
3. You can safely distribute masks where you see the greatest need in your community (check out these ideas). Through our partnership with Feeding America, your troop can easily donate (PDF) masks to your local food bank staff and families that rely on food bank services.
4. Inspire others to give back! Snap a photo of your troop’s masks and post to your social networks using the hashtag #GirlScoutsGiveBack. Be sure to tag @girlscouts too!
5. Don’t forget to come back and log the number of masks you made!
6. If you wish to recognize your troop’s participation with a patch, we recommend this Girl Scouts Give Back patch.

 Check out some more detailed guidance (PDF).

Girl Scouts Give Back: Citizen Science 

How can you play a part in solving some of the biggest problems facing our planet? Enter citizen science, where volunteers help scientists collect data for their studies and experiments. Anyone can be a citizen scientist—all you need is curiosity and a willingness to help! 

This summer, your troop can contribute to important scientific research by participating in one of our Girl Scouts Give Back citizen science projects. We’ve partnered with SciStarter, an online citizen science community, to help get you going!

Here’s how your troop can make a difference: 

1. Choose either the Great Sunflower Project (for girls of all ages) or the Globe at Night project (for Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors) to create an account for your troop on SciStarter. 
2. Read the project’s instructions on your SciStarter dashboard and gather the needed tools and materials.
3. Collect data for the project using the recommended tools and materials, and log the data using your SciStarter dashboard.
4. Snap a photo of your troop’s work and share on social media using #GirlScoutsGiveBack (be sure to tag @girlscouts). Don’t forget to add your project to be counted as participating in our national service projects.
5. If you wish to recognize your troop’s participation with a patch, we recommend the Girl Scouts Give Back patch. 

Want to learn more about citizen science? For a limited time only, you can download all activity instructions and the Take Action Guide for the Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey for free from the Girl Scout Shop! 

National Civic Action: Promote the Vote 

Since Girl Scouts’ founding in 1912, our members have created lasting, positive change through advocacy and civic action. And though some girls may be too young to cast a ballot, they can still mobilize their communities to take action like a Girl Scout.

As we mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which removed the gender restriction to voting, Girl Scouts is launching a national “Promote the Vote” initiative to engage Girl Scout troops in the democratic process.

Voting is arguably our most important civic duty—but barriers still exist. In many parts of the country, voting laws and protocols make it difficult for many people, especially people of color, to cast their votes in local and federal elections. In other words, there’s work to be done—and girls can play a part!

We all have a role in helping people exercise their right to participate in the democratic process, including in this challenging time of COVID-19.

Here’s how your Girl Scout troop can promote the vote:

1. Discuss the importance of voting. Lead your girls in a conversation (PDF) about why voting is essential and the power they have to increase access to the vote and to encourage others to vote, even if they are too young to vote themselves. (Hint: your troop could earn one of our new Democracy badges in the process!)
2. Make a plan and set a goal. With your girls, decide which action(s) you’ll take to encourage people to register to vote and make a plan to vote, and how many people you’ll reach out to. There are so many ways your girls can share key information (PDF) and get the word out! Senior and Ambassador troops can register (or pre-register) to vote and make plans to cast their ballots together!
   
3. Share your story on social media. Research shows that if you persuade one person to vote, they’ll likely influence at least one additional friend or family member to vote too! If you use social to educate and inspire others to vote, be sure to tag us using @girlscouts.
4. Complete our survey so your troop’s impact can be counted in our national service projects.
   
5. Encourage your girls’ ongoing civic engagement through working to earn our new Democracy badges and using GSUSA’s suffrage toolkit.

For more voting resources, check out:

• Vote.gov
• Vote411.org
• NonProfitVOTE.org
• VoteAmerica.com

Check out more detailed guidance:
Instructions for troop leaders (PDF)
Instructions to share with girls (PDF)

Fighting Hunger Service Project

More than 50 million adults, kids, and families in the U.S. are experiencing food insecurity, a number that has only increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and may include members of our own communities, friends and family, or members of our troops, making this a sensitive and important take action issue for Girl Scouts.

As they think about how to give back this holiday season, girls can make a big difference in their communities—and for children around the world—by supporting hunger relief efforts. There are lots of ways for your troop to make an impact, whether you’re meeting safely in person or virtually and even if you aren’t able to give food directly:

Hint: check out our detailed troop leader instructions (PDF) for helpful tips for each project!

1. Support a food drive in your community or organize your own (Word Doc)! 
   
2. Thank a Food Bank Hero! Write to a Food Bank Hero to show your troop’s appreciation and send encouragement for the hard and vital work they do. Mail your handwritten notes to your local food bank.
   
3. Volunteer at a drive-thru food distribution program if there are COVID-safe options with local food banks in your area. (And if your troop is old enough!)

Once your troop has completed this service project, remember to:

• Inspire others to give back! Post a photo of your project to your social networks using the hashtag #GirlScoutsGiveBack. Be sure to tag @girlscouts too!
• Complete our survey so your troop’s impact can be counted in our national service projects.
• If you wish to recognize your troop’s participation with a patch, we recommend this Girl Scouts Give Back patch.

For all National Service Project activities taking place during COVID-19, please make sure that your troop complies with health and safety guidelines given by the CDC, your local government, and your local Girl Scout council.

Check out more detailed guidance:
Instructions for Troop Leaders (PDF)
Food Drive Toolkit (Word Doc) 

Cupid Crew Valentine’s Day Cards Service Project

Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity for you and your troop to reach out and show others that you care—especially those who may be alone on a day that’s all about connection!

This year, Girl Scouts is teaming up with Wish of a Lifetime from AARP for Cupid Crew 2021, a volunteer-driven effort to create cards and safely send some love to tens of thousands of older adults who are socially isolated.

Even though we have to keep a safe distance, your troop can help spread joy to thousands of older adults across the country by writing Valentine’s Day cards as part of the Cupid Crew national service project.

Here’s how it works:

1. Discuss the Cupid Crew national service project with your troop.

• Talk about how older adults may be experiencing feelings of loneliness and isolation, compounded by COVID-19 restrictions.
• Have the troop set a goal for the number of Cupid Crew valentine cards to create.

2. Create your valentines.

• Share this Cupid Crew Valentine’s Day Card Template (PDF) with each girl or create your own.
• Get creative! Share the link to our Cupid Crew Card Tips (PDF) with your girls to help them get started.
  

3. Decide where to send your troop’s cards.

Reach out to a local senior living community and ask how they’d like to receive your troop’s cards. Mail or deliver your cards to a local senior living community that you have a connection to or check out our list of local senior living communities (PDF) to find one in your area.

Please get in touch with your troop’s senior living community of choice by Monday, February 8, to let them know to expect your package or delivery. We suggest calling the senior living community and speaking to the activities director to find out how to best coordinate your drop-off given the community’s COVID-safety practices. Consider including one of your girls on the call to share in the experience.

4. Make a plan to send or deliver your Cupid Crew cards.

Decide how to collect and deliver your troop’s cards. For example, you could collect the cards and mail them together or drop them off as a packet. Do whatever is easiest and safest for you and your troop.

Send or deliver your cards to the local senior living community you identified in Step 3.

If you choose to deliver your cards, please do so by Saturday, February 13.

For a COVID-safe drop-off, we suggest:

• All cards be delivered either with a troop leader, parent, or volunteer
• You place your cards in an envelope or box and drop it off in front of the senior community, after getting in touch to let them know you are coming with your package 
• When your contact comes outside to pick up the box, you all wear masks and maintain six feet of distance

If you choose to mail your cards, please send them by Thursday, February 4, to ensure that they arrive in time.

If your troop decides that each girl will mail their card(s) in, provide the council office as the return address and make sure they also include a note to let staff know that these are Valentine’s Day cards sent from Girl Scouts and Cupid Crew. To ensure your cards arrive in time, send them by Thursday, February 4, and be sure to let the community know to expect the package.

5. Include a note to the facility staff to let them know you’re sending cards as part of your Girl Scout troop’s participation in the Cupid Crew national service project.

Once your troop has completed this service project, remember to:

• Inspire others to give back! Post a photo of your troop, your cards, or your delivery to your social networks using the hashtags #GirlScoutsGiveBack and #CupidCrew. Be sure to tag @girlscouts and @wishofalifetime too!
• After your troop has completed your cards, share your story with us to help us track Girl Scouts’ nationwide impact through service.
• If you wish to recognize your troop’s participation with a patch, we recommend this Girl Scouts Give Back patch.

For all National Service Project activities taking place during COVID-19, please make sure that your troop complies with health and safety guidelines given by the CDC, your local government, and your local Girl Scout council.

Check out the resources for this project:
Tips for Girls (PDF)
Cupid Crew Valentine’s Day Card Template (PDF)
List of Senior Living Communities (PDF)
Note to Facility Staff (PDF)

Wish of a Lifetime from AARP’s mission is to shift the way society views and values our oldest generations by fulfilling seniors’ dreams and sharing their stories to inspire those of all ages.  Learn more about Wish of a Lifetime from AARP or follow @wishofalifetime on social media.

Girl Scouts thanks Sodexo Seniors for their continued support of our national service projects.