volunteer opportunities

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Month!

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April is one of our favorite months of the year because it’s a special time to thank the everyday heroes in the lives of our Girl Scouts – our volunteers! While we love and appreciate them (and you!) every day, April is a special time to show our gratitude.

We know that without our volunteers, our girls wouldn’t develop into
G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders)™. They help our girls unleash their most confident selves and transform them into a force for good. They take our mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character to heart and apply it in all they do.

All year long, our volunteers make meaningful and inspiring contributions to our movement and we’re so thankful they choose to dedicate their time to preparing Girl Scouts for a lifetime of leadership. Our program makes a difference, and it’s because of how hard our volunteers work and care.

They say not all heroes wear capes, but ours wear the passion for what they do as a notable indicator that they’re Girl Scout volunteers. And yes, some of ours wear vests and patches!

More than just us thanking you, we know how grateful our members are for our volunteers, which is why we have the option for you to thank volunteers as well!

All month long, show your favorite Girl Scout volunteer how much they mean to you with a straight-from-the-heart, personalized ecard. Choose from four predesigned templates. Just fill in the blank to finish the sentence, and share your ecard with them on Facebook, on Twitter, or by email!

Also during National Volunteer Week (April 7–13) you can head over to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to show love for your favorite Girl Scout volunteer by sharing what makes them so special to you. Be sure to mention all the ways you support them throughout the year too. And remember to tag @girlscouts and use #NVW2019 so we can follow the love!

As a token of our appreciation, you can save this month at our online store. Use code VOLUNTEER19 for 15% off* one item from our online store, the Girl Scout Shop, and bring a smile to a volunteer’s face! Or pick up something new for yourself. We can say with confidence you’ve definitely earned it!

Not a Girl Scout volunteer?

It’s not too late to embark on this incredible adventure! If you’re looking for ways to have a powerful, lasting influence on girls in your community, we’d love to chat.Volunteer Now!

*The code is active April 1 through April 30, 2019, for 15% off one item from a customer’s order. The 15% discount will be applied to the highest priced item in an order. If a customer buys two or more of the same item that the discount applies to, the 15% will only be taken off one item. The code is for one-time use per customer, online only at girlscoutshop.com. 

Only a few more days to register for L.E.A.P.

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Register for our semi annual L.E.A.P. volunteer training by this Friday, October 26!

L.E.A.P. logo

This November 3, we’re inviting all our volunteers to attend the event at either our Buffalo, Lockport, or Rochester Service Center. It runs from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paula D’Amico, TV news producer will deliver a keynote, and then we have workshops to help your Girl Scout Leader experience. Options include:

  • Keeping your girls engaged
  • Financing your troop
  • Outdoor experiences
  • And more!

As an added bonus, we’re going to take time to test out the new STEM activities from GSUSA so all our volunteers understand the program (and can also see how fun it is!)

Join us at one of these locations:

Buffalo – Daemen College, Amherst NY
Rochester – Rochester Service Center
Lockport – Lockport Service Center

Registration closes October 26

Don’t miss our upcoming volunteer training!

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At Girl Scouts, we have a lot of resources to ensure our leaders are equipped to build girls of courage, confidence, and character. While we have training throughout the year, nothing is quite as extensive as our twice-a-year L.E.A.P. event.

L.E.A.P. logo

This November 3, we’re inviting all our volunteers to attend the event at either our Buffalo, Lockport, or Rochester Service Center. It runs from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paula D’Amico, TV news producer will deliver a keynote, and then we have workshops to help your Girl Scout Leader experience. Options include:

  • Keeping your girls engaged
  • Financing your troop
  • Outdoor experiences
  • And more!

As an added bonus, we’re going to take time to test out the new STEM activities from GSUSA so all our volunteers understand the program (and can also see how fun it is!)

Join us at one of these locations:

Buffalo – Daemen College, Amherst NY
Rochester – Rochester Service Center
Lockport – Lockport Service Center

Registration closes October 26

The Impact of a Volunteer: The Girl Scout Difference

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Girl Scouts makes a difference. That’s the whole point behind our Girl Scout Difference campaign and what we’re so passionate about sharing. We want people to know there’s a reason we remain girl-only; we have the time-tested and research-backed programming that tells us this is the best space for her to grow.

But to accomplish this, we need you.

We’re able to offer girls the opportunities to build robotic arms and create shelters in the wilderness because of our volunteers. Our caring adult mentors and strong female role models help shape the environment for our girls. Girl Scouts makes a difference because of our volunteer partners.

As a volunteer, you’ll see the proven results of how girls thrive in these five ways …

 Develop a strong sense of self.

 Seek challenges and learn from setbacks.

 Display positive values.

 Form and maintain healthy relationships.

 Identify and solve problems in the community.

… and you’ll know you had a hand in helping them get there.

It’s about more than just being there for the girls. Girl Scout volunteers tell us about the personal rewards they’ve encountered, like making new friends, enjoying new experiences, and even learning new things right along with their troop.

Girl Scouts doesn’t just make a difference in our girls’ lives, it will make a difference in yours.

Contrary to popular belief, you can volunteer even if you don’t have children. You can volunteer if you’re a man. We have roles beyond troop leader; we need people to help transport the children, manage cookie sales, assist at meetings, speak at events, and everything in between.

Just like the potential we see in our girls, there’s no limit to what you can do as a volunteer for Girl Scouts.

Volunteer with Girl Scouts

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Our mission at Girl Scouts is simple – build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. It’s the driving force behind everything that we do. As passionate as we are, we cannot accomplish our mission alone.

We need volunteers to partner with us in creating a better future for girls and empowering the next generation of female leaders. Together, we can help our girls become G.I.R.L.s, or go-getters, innovators, risk-takers, and leaders.

This partnership is more than just asking women to lead a troop. In fact, we need both men and women to help us in a variety of roles. It can look like co-leading a troop, but it can also be a troop helper (think driving and chaperoning), coordinating cookie sales, mentoring adult volunteers, working at our camps, speaking at an event, etc.

Your commitment can be an hour, a month, a year, and anything between or beyond that. Girls just need people like you willing to sacrifice their time to show them they can do more than they thought possible.

Plus, as a volunteer, you can change her world and your own. Ninety-two percent of volunteers learn new skills they can apply to their own life. Sixty-five percent note how it helped them advance professionally. Eighty-eight percent like how it keeps them active. A huge 94 percent say they’ve made new friends. And those are just statistics! Here are the reasons why our volunteers do what they do:

“I want to help my community and teach young girls in my community to be strong, independent women who are willing to put others before their own wants.”

“I am an advocate for the many benefits of Scouting and want girls everywhere to be able to succeed in all of their endeavors.”

“I truly enjoy spending time with our young ladies and teaching them, supporting them, being a mentor to them, and enjoying their candidness and eagerness to learn.”

“I LOVE watching their excitement, sense of WOW and wonder and and their pride at belonging to this special sisterhood.” 

Those are just four testimonials of the many we could share.

Girl Scouts are so much more than cookies, badges, campfires, and friendship bracelets. Girl Scouts are go-getters, innovators, risk-takers, and leaders. These are the traits that define girls of courage, confidence, and character. Being a G.I.R.L. is in the DNA of being a Girl Scout.

Simply put, our girls need you, just as you are, to help how you can. No matter your age, gender, or background, it can be part of your DNA, too. Join us in empowering female leaders today.