Girl Scouts at Home

Need some extra incentive? Girl Scouts of all ages can earn awards for their efforts! Read more about the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, OR attend a Virtual Silver and Gold Award Information Session! Plus, find more information about Service Bars, the President’s Volunteer Service Award, and others girls can earn on our Leadership & Service webpage.

• Girl Scouts all over the world are sewing masks for those in need, and you can, too! Silver Award Girl Scout Myah D. saw the need her community had for masks and decided that she just had to do something to help! In addition to creating and donating masks to more organizations than we can count, Myah has also created a blog and a Facebook page to document her journey! Her blog includes detailed instructions on how you can help the efforts by making masks to donate yourself! Ready to get started? Visit Myah’s blog to learn how!
  
  
• As Girl Scouts, we have always stepped up in times of need, and our current COVID-19 crisis is no different. We are proud of all that our service units, troops, staff and girls have done so far to support our community—and the world—during COVID-19. We are also proud to be a part of the larger Girl Scout Movement, which is serving our country and our world. Now, we are proud to share resources to engage in a Movement-wide letter writing campaign to support those in our community who need us most.
  
  The idea is simple: Girls write letters to people in nursing homes, senior residences, and assisted living facilities, including the dedicated and heroic staff who are caring for them. This long-distance hug is a way to share your good thoughts with these vulnerable and loved community members.
  
  Please visit www.girlscouts.org/serviceprojects for instructions on how to write and send letters, including a sample letter to include when you send your letters to a facility.
  
  Share your story of letter writing with the greater Girl Scouts Movement by sharing on social media with #GirlScoutsGiveBack.
  
  Don't forget to visit our Girl Scouts Give Back page and log the number of letters you send to add them to the national campaign. Let’s see how many letters of love and care our movement can send!
  
  If you have any questions, please reach out to memberservices@gsep.org.

• Decorate placemats or lunch bags for Meals on Wheels, which is a nationwide network dedicated to providing seniors with the support that enables them to remain living in their own homes.
• With an adult or other helper, add pollinator-friendly plants to your home garden. Not only will you be helping the environment, you’ll also be creating something beautiful AND giving yourself more chances to see awesome creatures like honeybees and butterflies!
• Make dog and cat toys to donate to your local ASPCA to help make shelter animals happy and keep them busy! Upcycle items like paper towel rolls, plastic Easter eggs, ping pong balls, and old fabric to create toys of all shapes and sizes!

• Clip coupons for local grocery stores to donate to a local food bank.
• Spread happiness and love by painting Kindness Rocks to leave around your town. You never know how much one simple rock could help someone. Pro tip: Clean your rocks and allow them to fully dry before painting!
• Create no-sew blankets to donate to an organization of your choosing. Love cats and dogs? Make small blankets to donate to your local SPCA! More into human issues? Send them to Project Linus, who provides homemade security blankets to children in hospitals, shelters, or wherever kids are in need of comfort. Visit Project Linus’ website for patterns and instructions.

• Go through old books you’ve grown out of and donate them to the waiting room of a local dentist or doctor, or place them in a Little Free Library for others to enjoy!
• Sew “Adopt Me!” vests for shelter dogs to wear to help them find a forever home. Use Gold Award Girl Scout Micaela’s easy-to-follow instructions to create some for your local animal shelter.
• Bring happiness to active, reserve, and veterans servicemembers when you write a letter to send to military through organizations like Operation Gratitude. Looking for something a bit more advanced? Operation Gratitude is also seeking volunteers to make paracord bracelets and other handmade items

• Foster a pet from a local animal shelter – you get a new friend, and your new friend gets a loving family while waiting to find their forever home!
• With adult supervision, teach an online class to share your skills and passions with others! Facebook Live and other live streaming platforms allow for interaction with viewers, whereas recorded videos give you the freedom to edit the content before its shared. Either way, you’re bound to bring joy to others as you help them learn a new skill!
• Put your stockpile of plastic bags to good use when you knit or crochet waterproof mats for your local homeless shelter. One plastic bag yields nine yards of plarn, or plastic yarn, which can then be turned into mats and donated.

• Enact change by writing a letter to your elected official about a cause you believe in. Find information about your elected officials, including contact information, here.
• Tutor a friend virtually in a subject they’re struggling with or need extra help understanding. Bonus points if they teach you something, too!
• Create an Amazon wish list to collect items for a cause you care about. One idea is to collect sleep-away camp items for Camp Dreamcatcher, a program for children whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Who doesn’t love camp?!
• Clean out your closet! And, while you’re at it, clean out the rest of the house, too! Many organizations will accept donations of clothing, shoes, toys, and other household items. Check out the website Donation Town to find a charity near you that will pick up donated items, then prepare to astonish even Marie Kondo with your decluttering skills.