Girl Scouts Make the World a Better Place

Making the world a better place — that is part of the Girl Scout promise every girl makes at the start of a Girl Scout meeting.

Helping people at all times is ingrained in the Girl Scout program, and many of them find helping Blessings in a Backpack as natural a fit as Thin Mints and a glass of milk. Some troop leaders find it difficult to find a non-profit willing to have children volunteer, but Blessings in a Backpack programs around the country have benefitted from the service work done by Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts in southeast Wisconsin spent part of their summer camp experience writing inspiration cards and making lanyard keychains for the kids receiving Blessings bags in their community.

Girl Scouts in Waukesha, Wisconsin, made positive note cards for Blessings kids and received their very own Blessings in a Backpack patch!

Troops in Circleville, Ohio, have been helping the Blessings program there for years. Troops have purchased food from the proceeds of their cookie sale and helped pack and load Blessings. Troop leader Leslie White and her girls helped pack Blessings bags on a regular basis. “The girls look forward to the packing nights, and it is so important to teach the girls how important it is to give back to the community.”

Thousands of boxes of excess cookies have found a way into the hands of Blessing’s kids over the years—a treat many of their families usually don’t have.

Girl Scouts can’t raise money for other organizations, but they can donate money they earn to help others.

The Longwood, New York, program on Long Island (New York) has benefitted from the Girl Scout’s highest awards. For their Bronze award, Girl Scout Juniors have hosted a food drive and made foldable magnetic boxes used many times for food collection. A rolling 6-foot table and 12 silver storage racks were purchased for the program by Girl Scout Cadettes, earning their Silver Award. The highest award a Girl Scout can receive is the Gold Award. On Long Island, one Girl Scout Senior did a full room renovation of the Blessings storage facility cleaning and painting the room that houses food to feed almost 500 kids each week. She organized a food drive and collected over 1,000 inspirational note cards for Blessings kids.

Girl Scout Troop 1492 in Long Island, New York, constructed light fold-up boxes for collecting Blessings in a Backpack food.

Many Girl Scouts have participated in Blessings’ annual “Love is a Verb” campaign each February. A big part is learning about food insecurity and taking action to help end the weekend hunger gap.

Troops can learn about the project by reading Maddie’s Fridge or listening to a celebrity read the story on our website. In the book, two friends enjoy each other’s company. One of the girls discovers there isn’t much food at her friend’s house, and like many Girl Scouts do, she decides to take action to provide food for her friend’s family. Girls and their families can participate in a coin collection and Blessings in a Backpack will provide little banks shaped like the empty refrigerator at Maddi’s house.

Girl Scouts and Blessings in a Backpack—making the world a better place, one bag of weekend food at a time.

Feature image: The Girl Scouts at Moravian Academy in Pennsylvania wrapped 120 gifts and created Christmas ornaments in partnership with its local Blessings in a Backpack program.