Council Updates

Become a National Delegate!
Volunteers and girls are encouraged to apply to be a National Delegate at the 56th National Council Session to be held in July 16 – 23, 2023 in Orlando, Florida.

This is an exciting opportunity to represent Girl Scouts of Western New York on the National level. The Board Development Committee is seeking a diverse pool of highly motivated and passionate candidates for a limited number of Delegate positions. Visit gswny.org/nationaldelegates to learn more, view the current roster, and apply today!

Council Subscription Box Survey
Leaders, we have a survey for you! We are in the process of creating three subscription boxes for leaders to purchase within the shop over the next few months and want to gauge general interest and what type of additional items leaders would like to see within these boxes. TAKE THE SURVEY >>>

Programs & Events

Program Partner: Buffalo Beauts
Visit beauts.nwhl.zone/tickets and use the promo code GSWNY22! Stay tuned for more information regarding GSWNY Day on January 9, 2022. LEARN MORE>>>

Program on Demand: Monkey See, Monkey Do… Children’s Bookstore
Monkey See, Monkey Do… Children’s Bookstore offers over a dozen unique Leadership Journeys for Daisies through Ambassadors. Each program revolves around a book theme. Students will focus on reading, writing, public speaking, critical thinking, and discovering concepts that may be new to them. Not only do we have programming available for your troops to choose from, but we also work with leaders in customizing a program that will address a specific topic using literacy as the foundation to our programming. We coordinate Skype sessions with authors as well as author visits that tie-in with the curriculum and provide students the opportunity to apply their critical thinking and leadership skills.

Our Programs on Demand (POD) provide additional Girl Scout experience opportunities for girls and troops throughout our nine counties. These businesses and organizations feature programs designed to appeal to a wide array of interests, including STEM, art, animals, and many more. Even better, you work directly with these collaborators to determine the specific program and date that fits your schedule. LEARN MORE >>>

Volunteers

Stress Relief for Volunteers Workshop
Thursday, November 4 | 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Now that the fall is here, we’re back to the sometimes-tough job of balancing work, life and Girl Scouts. Add in the difficulties of the past year and the continued uncertainty, and that can take a real toll!

Join us for this virtual session on recognizing the symptoms of stress, and practical ways that you can take care of yourself and your girls too! Parents/adult members are welcome as well. Our facilitator will be Dr. Keli-Koran Luchey, Founder/CEO of Lucid Pathways, LLC. Pre-registration required. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR >>>

Upcoming First Aid/CPR Trainings
An adult certified in First Aid/CPR is required if a troop leaves their meeting place and/or if an activity’s Safety Activity Checkpoint indicates a First Aider is required.

With our partner agency, EPIC Trainings, Inc., we offer full day and blended learning First Aid/CPR classes throughout the year. These courses include adult and child CPR and basic first aid. Certification is valid for 2 years. Blended learning classes are NOT recommended if this is your first time taking First Aid and CPR training.

A complete schedule of our offerings for the 2022 program year is on our Safety page under Volunteer Resources. We have 4 trainings coming up in November, 2 in Buffalo and 2 in Rochester:

• Wednesday, November 3, 5 p.m. | Buffalo Service Center
• Wednesday, November 10, 5 p.m. | Rochester Service Center
• Saturday, November 13, 9 a.m.* | Buffalo Service Center – *full in-person training will be available for the Buffalo session if requested
• Saturday, November 13, 11 a.m. | Rochester Service Center

Take advantage of these early sessions by calling EPIC Trainings Inc. at 585-615-4379 for questions accommodations and to register.

The Troop Finance Activity Report is Open
The Troop Financial Activity Report (TFAR) is now open in the Volunteer Toolkit on our website! Troop Treasurers you may begin to enter any financial activity your troop may have had since submitting your 2021 TFAR. Please remember to use Goggle Chrome as your web browser as the TFAR functionality doesn’t respond well to Safari, Internet Explorer or Firefox.

The GSWNY online TFAR submission window is May 1 – June 1.  You will be asked to attach your April troop bank account statement to your submission.

The TFAR Training is also available on our website. 

Product Program

Rise Up Challenge Winners
Congratulations to our winners of the Fall Product Program Rise Up Challenge! 

Choice of Council Cookie Booth Location:

• Troops 31095, 60494, 42215, and 30001

$25 Gift Card:

• Troops  60850, 10912, 20080

Girl Scout Swag: Troops 30001, 11945, 31347

Get Connected to GSWNY

Catch up with past Member Essentials on our blog and make sure you join our Members Group on Facebook for the latest updates. 

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at customercare@gswny.org or 1-888-837-6410. In an emergency, please call 1-800-882-9268.

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