Girl Scout Donations!

[jdyer09]

Hello, I am the leader of a new junior girl scout troop. We arent juniors quite yet but will bridge from Brownies next week so our Brownie activities are over. Anyway, one of the badges we will be completing will be first aid. Learning it for ourselves and creating first aid kits to put in camping gear, for travel, etc. We also wanted to donate bags to our local women and children's shelter. Does anyone know how to go about maybe getting some of these materials donated for this purpose. We are probably only going to make about 50-75. Our troop is only 7 girls. I was thinking about asking each family to bring one box of each of band aids, ointment wipes, etc..., but I dont want the parents to feel burdened either. Thoughts, suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[lindsmom]

Hello, I am the leader of a new junior girl scout troop. We arent juniors quite yet but will bridge from Brownies next week so our Brownie activities are over. Anyway, one of the badges we will be completing will be first aid. Learning it for ourselves and creating first aid kits to put in camping gear, for travel, etc. We also wanted to donate bags to our local women and children's shelter. Does anyone know how to go about maybe getting some of these materials donated for this purpose. We are probably only going to make about 50-75. Our troop is only 7 girls. I was thinking about asking each family to bring one box of each of band aids, ointment wipes, etc..., but I dont want the parents to feel burdened either. Thoughts, suggestions?

Thank you!

I feel that's a lot to ask of the families - when we have started our troops, we did ask for donations for the troop first aid kit but not for that many to give away. Also that doesn't really teach the girls to acquire the donations themselves (especially at the junior level they should be doing more themselves) - it just teaches them to ask their parents.

Rather, I would recommend they contact all the local CVS stores, pharmacies, stores that sell bandaids etc (supermarkets, walmart....) and ask for donations. Also go to the top of the and contact Johnson and Johnson and ask for donations. You need to be specific in how much you're looking for, what it will be used for, and you will need to provide your girl scout tax exempt number.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

My girls just bridged to cadettes. When we are in need of donations, we write letters to some of the local stores that carry what we need, and kindly request donations so we can work together to help the community. We have always gotten a great response from places like Target, Lowes, Costco, etc. Usually they offer a gift card that your troop can use to purchase whatever supplies you need.

Good luck!

 

[disneynme]

My girls just bridged to cadettes. When we are in need of donations, we write letters to some of the local stores that carry what we need, and kindly request donations so we can work together to help the community. We have always gotten a great response from places like Target, Lowes, Costco, etc. Usually they offer a gift card that your troop can use to purchase whatever supplies you need.

Good luck!

Oooh. Good information. I'm filing that away for the future. My DD is also bridging to Junior GS this year and will be starting on a Journey and working towards the Bronze Award.

 

[MichelleB]

Talk to your service unit leader before approaching the local stores. Some (like Costco) will only donate to a specific organization once per year which means that if you get a donation then your service unit or another troop can't that same year. Sometimes this isn't a big deal but in our service unit, we do a father/daughter camp day and ask Costco to help us out and they make a donation. If one of our troops would approach them prior to the service unit asking for the camp outing and got it, then they wouldn't help the service unit which benefits 440 girls vs one troop doing something to benefit another organization. I hope this makes sense and I've explained it properly.

 

[jdyer09]

Thank you everyone!!! You as always, were very helpful!

 

[disneynme]

Talk to your service unit leader before approaching the local stores. Some (like Costco) will only donate to a specific organization once per year which means that if you get a donation then your service unit or another troop can't that same year. Sometimes this isn't a big deal but in our service unit, we do a father/daughter camp day and ask Costco to help us out and they make a donation. If one of our troops would approach them prior to the service unit asking for the camp outing and got it, then they wouldn't help the service unit which benefits 440 girls vs one troop doing something to benefit another organization. I hope this makes sense and I've explained it properly.

Good to know. This makes perfect sense.

 

[mrsklamc]

It may be different for girl scouts but I work at a non profit and it is common for places to require a letter on our letterhead.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

In our area, it is common for scouts to put donations boxes in the library, town hall, local stores, etc. I've never heard of one for first aid supplies (usually it's food for the pantry, worn out blankets for the cat shelter, etc.) but I guess could work.

Have you verified the shelters need first aid kits? (I guess possibly, but that's not something I've ever heard of shelters looking for. Usually it's toys, clothes {esp underwear and socks!} and stuff for women to set up housekeeping- pans, towels, etc.)

There's nothing at all wrong, too, with just having the girls make first aid kits for themselves. I find the easy (and frankly most effective) GS service projects are the ones that involve the girls using their time. Collection things can be hard for them to make the connection to the organization and the needs. (Can they paint a room at the shelter, organize toys, plant some flowers... just ideas!)

 

[MrsPete]

Talk to your service unit leader before approaching the local stores. Some (like Costco) will only donate to a specific organization once per year which means that if you get a donation then your service unit or another troop can't that same year. Sometimes this isn't a big deal but in our service unit, we do a father/daughter camp day and ask Costco to help us out and they make a donation. If one of our troops would approach them prior to the service unit asking for the camp outing and got it, then they wouldn't help the service unit which benefits 440 girls vs one troop doing something to benefit another organization. I hope this makes sense and I've explained it properly.

Correct. The theory is that if the store makes a small donation to your troop, they then will say no to the council, to whom they might've made a large donation. Our council is absolutely rabid about this, and we are absolutely forbidden to approach stores for donations (even if our parents work in those stores) . . . but then our council is all about money these days. I used to be supportive of them, but no more.

The work around: Parents can ask for donations for anything. Troops cannot.

 

[dhardawa]

In our area, it is common for scouts to put donations boxes in the library, town hall, local stores, etc. I've never heard of one for first aid supplies (usually it's food for the pantry, worn out blankets for the cat shelter, etc.) but I guess could work.

Have you verified the shelters need first aid kits? (I guess possibly, but that's not something I've ever heard of shelters looking for. Usually it's toys, clothes {esp underwear and socks!} and stuff for women to set up housekeeping- pans, towels, etc.)

There's nothing at all wrong, too, with just having the girls make first aid kits for themselves. I find the easy (and frankly most effective) GS service projects are the ones that involve the girls using their time. Collection things can be hard for them to make the connection to the organization and the needs. (Can they paint a room at the shelter, organize toys, plant some flowers... just ideas!)

This was my first thought. I know our women's shelter has very limited storage and will only take in what they actually need at that time. So, if I have size 4 kids clothes and they have no size 4 kids, they will ask me to donate it to Goodwill where they get credit.

 

[ceecee]

Our council would not allow us to ask for donations unless they approved it, so I would advice to check it out. We donated toiletries to women's shelters when I had my troop and we made bags for the Ronald McDonald House as well. I don't know that they would need first aid kits?

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

For as long as I've been in Girl Scouts ,15 years, it's always been know GS are NOT allowed to ask for donations. For as long as I've ever know we are not allowed to ask for donations in any way, shape, or form. If it's found that you received X, Y, Z for la-de-da, it can compromise your Councils 501(c)3 status.

It even says on the bank authorization form that you are not allowed to act in the name of your council and do things such as claim the TIN in purpose of receiving donations (such as saying "we are a non-profit organization, can you donate blah-blah-blah)

But there are plenty of ways to go about what you are trying to accomplish

Turn this into a TAKE ACTION project.
Host a drive. Secure a location to use as a drop-off point. Have the girls make flyers. Have the girls parents sign up for different times to work the drop. Make copies of the flyer, have girls distribute, make extra copies to place in church bulletin if possible. Mass media announcement. Call new TV station/radio station for possitive attention. Make posters/signs.

The important thing is that GS are not allowed to raise in the "name" of another organization. So on the flyer instead of saying all donations are being given to XYZ, just keep it simple and say, they will be send to various shelters/places of need.

If you are really set on approaching stores for donations. Be careful with your wording. Instad of straight out asking, pose it as a question. Let them take the lead and offer the item, then accept the offer.

Such as instead of asking for bandaids, pose it was a question, tell them what you're doing and then ask " In your opinion, what do you think would be good items to place in the care pack "

Just be careful