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Community Service
Making the World a Better Place
Girl Scouts knows that involving girls in community service at all ages yields significant benefits for everyone involved. Girls learn to be compassionate citizens who are concerned about the well-being of others. They discover their own special talents like an affinity for organizing details and networking in their communities. They practice working as members of a team and as leaders who guide decisions as they make significant changes in the world around them.
Here are some of Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana's recent success stories:
Council-Wide Food Drive: "The Power of One"
Thanks to the support of our Girl Scouts and their families, our volunteers, friends of Girl Scouts, and staff, we collected more than 12,000 food items for several area organizations providing food for those who are in need. The Northern Illinois Food Depository, Greater Chicago Food Depository, and Northern Indiana Food Depository were able to distribute these food items to food pantries throughout our 10-county Girl Scout council area.
Thank you for your generosity in helping to feed hungry children, women, and men!
Congratulations to the Girl Scouts who won a free program activity for all the girls registered in their Girl Scout troop by simply participating in the project and having their troop entered into a drawing.
- Chicago Regional Service Center: 8 girls from Girl Scout Brownie Troop 20195, Leader - Stacy Saffold
- Homewood Regional Service Center: 7 girls from Girl Scout Daisy Troop 61062, Leader - Elizabeth Mallox
- Joliet Regional Service Center: 9 girls from Girl Scout Teen Troop 40803, Leader - Jill Miihelich
- Lisle Regional Service Center: 9 girls from Girl Scout Teen Troop 51875, Leader - Becky Bodnum
- Merrillville Regional Service Center: 16 girls from Girl Scout Junior Troop 10091, Leader - Karla Lutz
- Vernon Hills Regional Service Center: 13 girls from Girl Scout Junior Troop 40787, Leader - Evelyn Soto
Making Every Hour Count: Taking Action to Save our Resources
Girl Scouts care about the sustainability of our natural resources, so there was no better way for them to honor the 97th anniversary of the founding of our Movement in March than by doing something to show their love for Planet Earth.
Taking action to do lots of small, everyday things can reduce your carbon footprint and establish life-long habits that CAN change the world. These things can happen year-round!
Top 5 Things We Encouraged Girls and Families to Do:
- Participate in Earth Hour, a global effort initiated by Leo Burnett Sidney in 2007 that's spread around the globe. It was simple…they turned the lights out for at least an hour on March 28, from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m.
- Volunteer to help at one of the council's many camp and outdoor properties.
- Launch an Earth Day Action Plan on April 22, 2009, as a family and as a Girl Scout troop. Turn off the lights when you leave a room … recycle…bring reusuable bags with you to the grocery store.
- Plant trees and flowers this year around your house, your school or a community center.
- Start a vegetable garden that girls can tend throughout the summer. Learn about how plants grow and how to prepare recipes with the "fruits and vegetables" of their labor.