Community service projects are wonderful opportunities for girls to give back to their communities. Each year GSCI sponsors service projects which girls may participate in individually or with a troop. Past council-sponsored service projects have included serving the hungry, collecting hats and mittens for children, and volunteering at local animal shelters.

Girls and troops are also encouraged to initiate their own community service projects by exploring opportunities to meet needs they see in their own communities. In Girl Scouts of Central Illinois alone we have over 21,000 girl members. Imagine if each one of them touched the life of one person in need – that’s the power of numbers to make a difference in our communities! If your troop participates in its own community service project or you know of a troop that does, we’d love to hear about it! What did the troop do? Whom did they serve? How did their actions serve their local community?

Right in Our Community

Right in Our Community gathers information from Girl Scout troop leaders about locations, organizations, or individuals that they have shared with their troops.

The information will be arranged by service centers so that leaders can have the opportunity to ask their membership specialist for an updated list on locations in the community that are Girl Scout friendly. Leaders are asked to fill out the Right in Our Community Troop Leader Form with location, organization, or individual information, and we will compile the listings!

2013 Community Service Projects

We have three new community service projects for the 2012-2013 year. If you have further questions regarding GSCI community service projects, or to let us know about a community service project your troop initiated, contact Billie Waddell, Program Specialist, at bwaddell@girlscouts-gsci.org or (217) 328-5112 ext. 1204.

These three service projects are for girls of all ages and run from October 2012 to May 2013.

Location: All Service Centers
Patches may be purchased at your local Trefoil Boutique for $1.25 each. Please include a description of your community service project.

Operation Smile Dolls

Who: All Grade Levels
Date: October 2012 - March 2013

Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity that heals children's miles, forever changing their lives. With the help of dedicated medical volunteers, Operation  Smile has provided more than two million patient evaluations and more than 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other facial deformities. As one of the most prominent children's charities in the world and with a presence in more than 60 countries, we are able to heal children's smiles and bring hope for a better future.

Child Life stations are a unique feature of Operation Smile Medical Missions. Smile Dolls are used by Child Life Therapists to alleviate fear of the unknown while communicating about upcoming medical procedures. Community volunteers who make Smile Dolls are directly helping medical volunteers assist children waiting for surgery around the world.

Smile Dolls of all shades of skin-toned fabric are needed. International medical missions take place all over the world - from South America and Europe to the Middle and Far East. Fabric in white, muslin, tan, and light brown may be used.

Below is the website address for the smile doll pattern. Hold a sewing day with your troop, service area, or community and make a difference in the life of a child. You may bring completed dolls to your local Girl Scout service center and they will be shipped for you.

www.operationsmile.org/downloadables/get-involved/community-volunteers/smile-doll-pattern.pdf

GSCI Diaper Drive

Who: All Grade Levels
Date: October 2012 - May 2013

Families in our community are in need of our help now more than ever in the light of recent cuts at the state level to health and human services. A recent survey of local family and child-serving agencies reported an overwhelming need for diapers for their families, while public assistance programs - such as the Federal Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) - do not provide financial assistance for diapers.

Want to help out in a great way or are you looking for a great cause to become involved with? Help us help out local families by starting a diaper drive in your community. While any and all diapers are appreciated, there is a need for non-newborn sizes (size 2 and up). Once your troop has collected your diapers take them to a local shelter or food pantry to be distributed to local families in need.

Community Service Information and Form