Celebrate our history of service and volunteerism by volunteering 1 hour for each of our 100 years! 100 hours sounds like a lot, but its not as intimating as it looks.

*Hours you log from other 100th Take Action Projects count towards your total.

*Hours you log from Bronze, Silver or Gold Award Projects count towards your total.

*100 Hours for 100 Years counts as one project towards the patch.

• Log your hours to turn in for your patch
• Find places to volunteer and ways to serve

Girl Scouts knows that literacy in and of itself pertains to more than simply the ability to read. Literacy also encompasses writing, communicating with others, and processing ideas—all of which impact a girl’s success. Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low encouraged literacy in the 1920s by publishing one of our nation’s very first magazines for girls, The American Girl. Reading activities earned girls the Reader badge back then. Today, literacy activities are integral to Girl Scouting. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Read: What could be easier? Read with your family and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Keep a log of how many hours you read together and submit it with your completion record.
2. Tutor: Helping someone else read is a great help to both them and you! Get involved with an organization like Reading Seed, your local library or someone at your school who needs helps.
3. Write: Writing is just as important as reading. Find a pen pal in the U.S. or overseas who you can write to. You’ll make a new friend, improve grammar and writing skills, and maybe learn something about another culture!
4. Chief’s Challenge: Reach Out & Read - ends in January in order to go to the pizza party, but you can collect year round!

Girls see infinite possibilities—and participation in the arts enables them to express what they see. Girl Scouts encourages girls to view the world through the eyes of discovery by helping them develop their creativity, follow their instincts, and hone their communication skills. Whether they’re painting a landscape, composing a song, telling stories, or putting the finishing touches on a sculpture, Girl Scouts open the world up for their interpretation. From photography to playwriting and acting, activities in the visual, performing, and language arts encourage girls to trust themselves and create whatever they dream up! Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Ben’s Bells: Their mission is to inspire, educate and motivate each other to realize the impact of intentional kindness and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby changing our world. Help out by making beads, kindness coins or volunteering at one of their events!
2. Holiday Stockings: Learn to sew by making stockings! Then, fill them with goodies and donate them to a local children’s organization, shelter or family in need.
3. Helping the Homeless: Challenge yourself by making a complete set of blankets, hats, scarves and socks for homeless people. Start early so you can hand them out when the temperatures start to drop, or make them year round so you can hand them out next October!

Many of us are lucky enough to have food on our tables, but many are not.  Here are some ways you can help fight hunger in our community:

1. Empty Bowls Project: The Empty Bowls Project is a unique way to learn new skills and raise awareness about hunger. Girls sculpt bowls out of clay and paint them. Then, a dinner is held to raise awareness about food issues. The bowls you made will be sold and the money collected will be used to buy food for the local food bank, a family in need or other worthy cause. You can also “charge admission” to the dinner by requesting a donation of a non-perishable food item.
2. Adopt Families for the Holidays: Many families can’t afford to have a holiday feast. Help them celebrate with their families by providing a basket of food for their table.
3. Serve a Meal: Serve a meal at a local shelter or assisted living home. It will help the organization and will lift the spirits of anyone who sees you!

Taking care of and protecting the Earth is a concern for most girls as over half of girls are concerned about the air, forests and freshwater ecosystems, and two out of three girls feel strongly about protecting the wildlife. Less than one out of 20 girls thinks the environment is not a big problem. In tackling ecological concerns and problems, girls believe it is everyone’s responsibility—children, youth, adults and corporations alike—and everyone has a part to play.

Girl Scouts’ STEM expertise comes from our historic programming and research. We are well positioned to be the voice for girls regarding STEM. The second journey series, It’s Your Planet—Love It! uses girls’ concern for the environment to propel their interest in STEM. It encourages girls to think critically about their interactions with the natural world by engaging them in age-appropriate, leadership-building activities that make STEM relevant and fun. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Stewards of the Mountain: information coming soon!
2. Plant a Garden: Planting a garden is easy and fun! Plant a community garden for your neighborhood, a planter box for your front yard, or anywhere you can plant a seed! Try to plant vegetables or native plant species.
3. Invasive Plant Removal: Over the years, our desert landscape has been a breeding ground for invasive plants. Get ‘em outta here! You can remove buffel grass and other invasive species. Organize a neighborhood removal or just get some friends together! You’ll need shovels and a few other tools for this activity.
4. Install Solar Lighting: Encourage your school and local organizations to install solar lighting on pathways and in their parking lots. You can install solar lighting at home too- it is healthy for the environment and makes your street safer too!