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)