April Showers reflects Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s dedication to the community. This extraordinary program launched in 1998, and has since met a need unknown to many community leaders and citizens.
The need:
- 1 in every 9 people in eastern Missouri lives at or below the poverty line
- 1 in every 4 children under age 18 in eastern Missouri lives in a family that receives food stamps
- Approximately 48,700 people in eastern Missouri have no cash income; they rely on food stamps only
- Personal care items cannot be purchased with food stamps by local families and individuals in need
- Personal care items accounted for less than 1% of donations to local food pantries and shelters prior to 1997
The need is now met each year by local Girl Scouts who distribute empty April Showers bags to residences throughout the council. One week later, Girl Scouts collect the bags filled with personal care items and distribute them to local pantries and shelters.
The 2010 April Showers program was a success thanks to so many. We offer our gratitude to the following organizations for their generous support of April Showers:
- Our 2010 program sponsor:
- April Showers partners, Central Missouri Food Bank and Operation Food Search
- Dierbergs Markets and C & R Markets for advertising personal care item promotions and serving as optional drop off sites
- Cord Moving & Storage and A Mrazek Moving Systems for providing trailers at our collection sites
This year’s program included a tip-off event at the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at the St. Charles Family Arena where 523 items were collected. In addition, 3 corporations generously donated over 25,000 items and 12 area corporate businesses held employee drives for April Showers – we thank these organizations for their support:
Corporate Donations:
- Brand Connections
- Dr. Bronners Soaps
- Vi-Jon
Corporate Employee Drives
- Cassidy Turley Martin Tucker
- CEJKA Search
- ConAgra Foods
- Elsevier Inc.
- EVS Reality Advisors
- FM Global
- The Koman Group
- McCormack Baron/Salazar/McCormack Baron Ragan
- Northern Trust
- Smith, Moore & Co
- St Louis University School of Law
- Tacony Corporation
Together, we help empower girls to inspire and team with others to make the world a better place!
2011 April Showers Dates
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April 8-10, 2011: April Showers Bag Distribution
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April 16, 2011: April Showers Bag Collection
Need more information? Contact Lucretia Penn, 314.592.2337, or
lpenn@girlscoutsem.org.