Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri Kicks Off Personal Care Donation Program This Weekend
April 13, 2026
April Showers, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s (GSEM) largest community service program, begins Friday, April 17 when Girl Scouts, their troop leaders, and families help people in need by going door-to-door, distributing sticky notes throughout the community with the request for personal care item donations. The following Saturday, April 25, Girl Scouts will return to collect the donations left on porches and doorsteps and sort thousands of personal care items at multiple drop-off sites throughout the St. Louis metro.
Over the last 28 years, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri has collected more than 29 million personal care items. They work with long-time collaborator Operation Food Search (OFS) to sort and distribute the items through OFS’s established network of community partners. With more than 900,000 people a year in Missouri living below the federal poverty line and unable to purchase personal care items with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and the April Showers program help hundreds of agencies throughout eastern Missouri to support those in need in our communities.
There are four ways the community can participate in April Showers:
- Door-to-Door Neighborhood Collection/Donation
- April 17-19: Girl Scouts will be going door-to-door, distributing sticky notes throughout the community with the request for personal care item donations.
- April 25: Girls will return to community neighborhoods to collect donations. Donations should be placed in a bag or box outside on front doors before 9 am on Saturday, April 25, with the originally distributed sticky note attached and clearly marked for Girl Scouts.
- Showering the Community Event at Local Storefronts
- April 18: Girl Scouts and other volunteers will be at local storefronts encouraging customers to purchase personal care items to donate while they shop.
- Online Registry Donation
- April 17-26: Community members will have the opportunity to donate directly through an online registry. All donations are shipped to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and then distributed out to hundreds of agencies throughout St. Louis City and the 28 surrounding counties.
- Donation Drop Off Stations:
- April 17-26: Dierbergs Markets and Schnucks will have shopping carts or collection bins marked for April Showers donation collection at the front of the stores
- April 20-24: Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri will be collecting items at their office, located at 2300 Ball Drive, Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm. Look for the blue barrels located at the back of their building.
Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is proud to partner with Operation Food Search, Schnucks and Dierbergs Markets on this exciting community program.
April Showers Donation Items Include:
- Deodorant
- Diapers/Baby Care
- Facial Tissue
- Feminine Hygiene Products
- First Aid Supplies
- Mouthwash
- Shampoo
- Soap
- Toilet Paper
- Toothpaste/Toothbrushes
To learn more about Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, visit girlscoutsem.org/aprilshowers.
