Community service is an integral part of being a Girl Scout which provides girls with the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills (Discover) and practice teamwork (Connect) as well as empowering girls to make changes in the community (Take Action).
History
Council wide service begin in 1922 when Girl Scout Troop 10 was asked by the Children’s Aid Society of St. Louis to provide dolls as Christmas gifts for the children under its care. Initially, Festival of Giving was celebrated at Christmas time with a huge gathering at various sites. The Festival grew to such proportions that it was eventually decentralized and held at the District and Neighborhood levels as a year-round service to the Girl Scout community.
In 1996, Festival of Giving was renamed Seasons of Giving to reflect the twelve month commitment of Girl Scouts serving over 200 agencies and thousands of individuals. Girl Scouts have the opportunity to meet many community needs by participating in the GSEM council-wide personal care item drive, April Showers, held annually in April, by giving tangible gifts lovingly made or purchased with troop funds or by visiting, entertaining and writing to the young and old.
How to participate
GSEM encourages all Girl Scouts to participate in service activities. Each year, Seasons of Giving packets are distributed to troops. Girl Scout troop/groups have the opportunity to provide service to:
- Council-wide agencies (Group 1)
- District-wide agencies (Group 2)
- Agencies of their choice (Group 3)
The packet also contains information on
how to report their troop/group service beginning October 1 all-year round.
Online Reporting for Seasons of Giving
Please contact Kathy White at
kwhite@girlscoutsem.org or 314-592-3289 if you have questions about online reporting or have Seasons of Giving reports that were not entered by the deadline.
Troop packets: