Event Spotlight: G.L.O.W.

GSHCC's first annual Girls Leading Our Way (G.L.O.W.) Conference was a great success! G.L.O.W. was designed to bring older Girl Scouts together and give them resources to enhance their leadership skills. On Saturday, May 31, 2014, a total of 46 Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Girl Scouts participated in workshops and discussions where they learned valuable info, such as how to boost public speaking skills and prepare for college, to what it takes to succeed. In the evening, all of the girls came together to bond, have fun and reflect on the day.

G.L.O.W.  was an amazing experience that Girl Scouts Heart of Central California was proud to host. If you missed the conference this year, be on the lookout for G.L.O.W next year!  

Girl Scout Award Highlights

Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony, Girls Who Inspire Award Ceremony, bridging ceremonies, and Court of Awards—there are SO many Girl Scout accomplishments to celebrate this time of year. And we couldn't be more proud! Here are a few highlights...

This pic collage is from a recent Court of Awards Ceremony. The girls worked so hard during the cookie season and reached their cookie goal, so they wrote a letter to What's the Scoop? Ice Cream sharing their story and the Sacramento hop donated ice cream for their party.

The Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony was held on June 7 at the Sacramento Convention Center. This year, 190 girls from GSHCC received their Silver Award... amazing!

On June 8, we held the Girls Who Inspire Award Ceremony at Crest Theatre, honoring girls who received the highest awards in Girl Scouting. This year, 52 girls received their Girl Scout Gold Award, 14 received their GSHCC Rose Award, and 20 girls received their Bridge to Girl Scout Adult Award. Great job, Girl Scouts!


Congratulations to all Girl Scouts who received an award or celebrated an accomplishment this year! And a big thank you to all the volunteers, advisers and parents who supported their Girl Scout and her journey.

BIG Day of Giving on May 6, 2014

On May 6 we are trying something NEW: Girl Scouts Heart of Central California is participating in an online crowdfunding campaign for Sacramento Region called the BIG Day of Giving (#givebigdog), which aims to inspire and unite the community in supporting hundreds of local nonprofits (nearly 400!).

For 24 hours, you will have the opportunity to give where your heart is. Starting at midnight on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, online donations to GSHCC will be accepted through this link: http://givelocalnow.org/girlscouts. One of the best parts? There’s an incentive to BOOST all donations! Thanks to awesome community foundations and businesses, every donation will receive a prorated match from a pool of matching funds.

GSHCC’s BIG goal: 

Our #givebigdog goal is to receive 102 individual donations on May 6—a donation for each of the 102 years that Girl Scouts has been building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.

YOU can help! Here’s how:

• Give: Please consider making a donation to GSHCC. Programs for girls receive only 6% of philanthropic dollars in the U.S. By donating to GSHCC—the premier leadership development organization for girls—you’re helping to empower girls to develop their full potential… which in return will help create a brighter future for all of us. And with the matching incentive, your donation will go even further on May 6.

• Share: Our social networks will be active with #givebigdog content between now and throughout the BIG day. Please share the content with your friends, family and personal networks to help get the word out! If you don’t already follow us on Facebook and Twitter, please do so:
• GSHCC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GSHCC
• GSHCC Twitter: https://twitter.com/GirlScoutsHCC

Thank you for your continued support of Girl Scouts! For more information on #givebigdog, visit givelocalnow.org or email funddev@girlscoutshcc.org.

Anna Maria Chávez sets the Record Straight

"At Girl Scouts, we stand for girls. Our mission is to help today's girls develop the skills they need to become tomorrow's leaders." Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez sets the record straight on recent misconceptions. Please watch this video...
 


For more information, visit the "For the Record" section on our website.  

Two New Cookie Incentives!

GSHCC's 2014 Girl Scout Cookie Program is off to a great start... and it just got sweeter. We're excited to announce two new incentives are being offered: one for #cookiebosses and the other for service units.

Exclusive incentive for cookie bosses: Girl Scouts who sell 1200+ packages of cookies will now receive a V.I.P. Cookie Boss Overnight!

Sweet incentive for service units: The top five service units that boost cookie sales over their 5% goal will be awarded a custom patch made especially for them.

Here's to a great cookie season!

What's your cookie goal this year? Which recognitions are you most excited about?

National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend!

This year we’re celebrating National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend on Friday, February 7 & Saturday, February 8! This is a great opportunity for Girl Scouts and supporters to share with the community the importance of the Girl Scout Cookie Program and what it does for the girls and their communities.

On National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, Girl Scout councils from around the nation will be celebrating and promoting the five skills girls learn while participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

These five skills include:

• Goal Setting
• Decision Making
• Money Management
• People Skills
• Business Ethics

Join with us on February 7 & 8 to share with the world the power of the Girl Scout Cookie Program!

Here’s how:
Feb. 4-8: Help us spread the word on social media about Girl Scout Cookies and what girls learn by participating in the Cookie Program! Plus, participate in a GSHCC cookie video montage--share your National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend photos with us:

• GSHCC’s Facebook page. 
• Tag @GirlScoutsHCC on Instagram 
• Tag @GirlScoutsHCC on Twitter 
• Email photos to marcomm(at)girlscoutshcc(dot)org 

Feb. 5: Participate in the virtual Twitter Party with Girl Scouts, Mom It Forward, and a panel of experts to celebrate National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend. Join the conversation to talk all things cookies (yum!), learn about this season’s sweepstakes and discuss the five skills girls acquire while participating in the largest girl-led business. The virtual Twitter Party starts Wednesday, February 5 from 6–7 p.m. PT. See here for details about the giveaway. (Hashtags: #gno #cookieboss)

Feb. 6: Giveaway ends and winner will be announced soon after. Enter the GSUSA and Mom it Forward National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend Giveaway and you could receive a basket full of Girl Scout merchandise.

Feb. 7: Stop by the National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend cookie booth at Sacramento’s Capital Garage! The booth will be up from 8–10 a.m.

Feb. 7 & 8: Celebrate with your Girl Scout troop by discussing your cookie goals, making signs and decorations for your upcoming cookie booths, or fill out thank you cards for customers who have already purchased cookies. This is a great weekend to prepare for Girl Scout cookie booths! Psst… and a great weekend for a troop slumber party!

We can’t wait for the fun! And don't forget to pick up your National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend fun patch from The GS Shop!

How will your troop celebrate National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend?

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!

There's more to Girl Scout Cookies than what's in the box! Selling cookies teaches skills essential to leadership. 

Here are some tips for the start of the Girl Scout Cookie Program:

1. Decision making & goal setting: If you haven’t already, set your cookie goals! Then decide as a troop what you’d like to do with the troop money earned, such as fun activities and community service projects. Use the COCO Cookie Command as a tool.

2. People skills: Be sure you know your product! Remember to let your customers know what you are selling, why you are selling it, and why they should purchase it. Continue to practice your “sales pitch.” Team up with a friend and take turns being a potential customer. Ask each other questions a customer might ask you.

3. Money management: Since a package of Girl Scout Cookies is $4.00 even, it makes it easy to make change. Make a change “cheat sheet” so that you know how much change to give a customer quickly. Learn how to “count back” change. This is great customer service and this technique will make sure you are collecting the right amount of money and returning the right amount of change.

4. Business ethics: Use some key parts of the Girl Scout Law such as “honest and fair”, “friendly and helpful”, “responsible for what I say and do” and “respect myself and others” to keep yourself on the right track when running your sale.

5. Project Thank You! Did you know GSHCC has an opportunity for customers to give Girl Scout Cookies to the military? Project Thank You will donate Girl Scout Cookies to American Red Cross who will take them to the military personnel serving our country.

More tips coming soon! For more information about the Girl Scout Cookie Program, please visit the GSHCC website.