TGSC: Volunteer opportunities

Girl Scouts – Tombigbee Council

Volunteer Opportunities

The Girl Scout program is delivered and supported by volunteers. Our council has several hundred volunteers compared to 12 staff. Volunteers choose long or short term projects, and can work with girls or with other Girl Scout adults. Positions can be divided among more than one person. Training is provided for all our volunteers.

What can you do as a Girl Scout adult?

Work directly with Girl Scouts:

Troop Leader or Co-Leader: Work with girls ranging from kindergarten to high school. Requires basic leader training and commitment to the troop for one school year. Troops set their own schedules, usually meeting twice a month; some meet after school, others evenings or weekends. No previous Girl Scout experience is needed, as training is provided.

Work with other adults at the local (service unit) level:

Troop Organizer: Hold school nights to recruit girls and leaders, do leader orientation. Mostly a fall position. Previous knowledge of Girl Scouting an asset.

Community Liaison: Promote Girl Scouting in the community. Find sponsors and potential volunteers.

Public Relations Volunteer: Help communicate about Girl Scouting. Desktop publishing, photography, or writing skills useful.

Annual Family Giving Chair: Coordinate this fundraising campaign with local troops.

Service Unit Cookie Sale Manager: Train local volunteers in how to do the cookie sale, summarize troop orders and tally final reports. Mostly January-March.

Registrar: Collect and check troop registration forms for your area; contact leaders for missing information. Mostly a fall position.

Troop Consultant: Be a mentor for new leaders. Mostly a fall position. Current or former troop leaders or Girl Scout alumnae do well at this.

Event Planner: Plan one or more events for local troops to attend. Requires council event planning safety training. May be active throughout year.

Service Unit Manager: Be the contact person for troop leaders in the local area. Hold meetings with leaders once a month during the school year. Position requires good team building skills. Previous knowledge of Girl Scouting is an asset in working with troop leaders.

Work at the council level:

Resource Person: Share your skills with girls on a short term basis. Troops working on a badge often need someone with specialized knowledge (from quilting to engineering) that they can call on for assistance.

Trainer: Teach classes for new leaders; or teach advanced classes (outdoor skills, water safety, canoeing, etc.). People whose work requires communication make good trainers. For basic leader training, previous Girl Scout experience is useful. Classes are mostly scheduled on Saturdays or evenings.

Water Safety Volunteer: Help a troop go swimming or canoeing. Troops going swimming in a place without a lifeguard on site need someone to go with them who is at least 19 years old and certified as a lifeguard. We also need adults certified in canoeing to assist troops.

Fund Development Committee: Work with a team in your community to raise money to support Girl Scouting. Requires willingness to ask people for donations, willingness to learn how to make a strong case for Girl Scouting. Most of the work is in the spring.

Council Cookie Committee: Help manage the Girl Scout Cookie Sale for our 11-county area. Knowledge of Girl Scouting is not required. Year round, with intensive part in January-March.

Event Planner: Plan one or more council events. These could be special topic badge workshops, council campouts and retreats, our Annual Meeting, etc.

Other Volunteers: Anything we do can use a volunteer to help do it. Making scrapbooks, helping with newsletter mailouts, and running errands for camp are just some examples. These "odd jobs" can take as much or as little time as you have to give.