Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida

www.gssef.org March 31, 2016

In this Issue:

Mark Your Calendar; Thin Mint Sprint is HERE; Save the Date: Great Give; This Year's Cookie Results are Truly Amazing!; Feeding Florida Together; Service from the Heart Scholarship; Gold Award Deadline is April 4; Princess Night at the Light; It's your Planet - Love It; Girl Scout Day at the Rapids; Fish Like a Girl - SWE Workshop; Take Me Out to the Ball Game; Slumber Splash Bash; Shop Talk; April 2 - Surprise Discounts; I Can't Wait for My Next Girl Scout Adventure - Troop Photos; Stay Connected

Mark Your Calendar!

You don't want to miss any of the great things happening at GSSEF.

Early Bird Re-Registration: April 1 - May 15
Feeding Florida Together Food Drive: April 1 - 30

Thin Mint Sprint: April 3 - Halpatiokee Regional Park, Stuart; April 9 - Topeekeegee Yugnee Park, Hollywood; April 10 - Okeeheelee Park, West Palm Beach

The Great Give: May 3

Thin Mint Sprint is HERE!

We are looking forward to an awesome Thin Mint Sprint 5K and Tagalong Trot this Sunday at Halpatiokee Park in Stuart. If you didn't have a chance to register, that's ok! Walk-ups are welcome at Pavilion 3 beginning at 6:30 a.m.

April 3rd - Halpatiokee Regional Park - Stuart

April 9th - Topeekeegee Yugnee Park - Hollywood
April 10th - Okeeheelee Park - West Palm Beach

Still interested in registering for the Hollywood or West Palm Beach location? Online registration is still open and will remain open until noon the day before the race.

Register here: http://gssef.donorpages.com/1516ThinMintSprints/.

Each location promises a morning full of fun that includes a photo booth, face painter, balloon twister and a box of Thin Mint cookies for all finishers! Lace up your shoes and we can't wait to see you there!

Save the Date for the Great Give - May 3rd, 2016
Great Give Palm Beach and Martin Counties is a 24-hour online giving event led by the Community Foundation for Palm Beach County, United Way of Palm Beach County and United Way of Martin County. It is designed to raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits in a single day. This community-wide event celebrates the spirit of giving and the collective effort it takes to strengthen our community by raising critical funds for local nonprofits.

Once again, GSSEF will participate in this extraordinary day of giving. Every local gift will be multiplied with additional dollars from a bonus pool raised by the Community Foundation.

Save the date of May 3rd to make your donation and look for more information about this year's Great Give for GSSEF in upcoming issues of E-News!

This Year's Cookie Sale Results are Truly Amazing!

Thanks to our awesome Girl Scouts, their supportive parents and our fantastic volunteers, GSSEF experienced the best Girl Scout Cookie Sale Program in the history of our Council.

As promised, we want to share some of the highlights of the sales results with you.

Sales: 2016 - 1,528,619 boxes (11 percent increase from 2015)
We reached the 1.5 M goal - $250 for each Service Unit.
Initial Orders - 1,065,636 boxes (20.4 percent increase from 2015)
DOC Orders - 5,235 boxes (43.19 percent increase from 2015)
CFM Girl Sale Donations - 56,192 boxes
CFM Mail Donations - $22,268
Girls Selling - 7,173
PGA - 213
Troops Selling 713
Extreme Team Girls - 178 girls
See Extreme Team List here.
Girls Selling 2016+ - 26 girls
See 2016+ List here.
3-6-9 Bonus - 14 Service Units
(Resulted in an additional $92,624 in proceeds paid out to troops)

The Top 3 Sellers for the 2016 Cookie Sale

1. Amanda K. - selling 4,304 boxes (Atikah Service Unit)

2. Saya G. - selling 3,318 boxes (Sandy Beaches Service Unit)

3. Kalliopi K. - selling 3,202 boxes (Leo Service Unit)

Congratulations to all three of these girls, their parents and their troop leaders....what an awesome job!

Share and celebrate all of these successes. EVERYONE, together, did a remarkable job and with impressive dedication. The true end result is that over 7100 girls in our Council had a positive and fun experience doing what every Girl Scout likes to do - SELL GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.

Program Spotlight

Feeding Florida Together Food Drive
April 1 - 30, 2016

Did you know that 1 in 4 children in Florida go to bed hungry and don't get enough food to live active, healthful lives? As Girl Scouts, we must do our part to decrease these alarming statistics and help feed the hungry in our communities. Local food banks need your help to stock their pantries and prevent hunger even when it is not the holiday season. Join us for our Annual GSSEF Feeding Florida Together Food Drive, and help us collect non-perishable food items. We encourage you to reach out to your local community to help us in our mission to fill the food pantries during this month! You can place food collection boxes in your local churches, synagogues, schools, day-care centers, small businesses, neighborhoods, troop meeting places, grocery stores, and get your entire community involved!

For additional information and drop off locations, see flyer here.

Barbara Ann Turner 'Service from the Heart' Scholarship Application Due Tomorrow

GSSEF is honored to annually award the "Service From the Heart" Scholarship in memory of Barbara Ann Turner, a dedicated volunteer.

GSSEF is thankful for the generosity of ongoing donations, allowing the scholarship to be increased to $1000.00. In this spirit, the "Service From the Heart" Scholarship will continue to be awarded annually to a high school age Girl Scout, who is currently registered in this council, who has given exceptional service in her community.

For more information please read the requirements here. The deadline for applications is April 1, annually. Scholarship presentations will be made in May, annually.

Gold Award Deadline is April 4!

Only four more days! All girls working on Council-approved Gold Award projects will have until Monday, April 4th, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. to turn in all completed final reports and scrapbooks to either the Oakland Park or Jupiter Service Center. Girls that submit completed projects will be invited to an exclusive Gold Award Celebration on Saturday, May 14, 2016, at the Waterstone Resort and Marina in Boca Raton.

If you have any questions about your projects, please contact the Director of Program, Lammy Askar at aaskar@gssef.org.

Princess Night at the Light

Saturday, April 23

Mark Light Field/University of Miami
6201 San Amaro Dr, Coral Gables, FL 33146
Cost per girl: $20

Daddy-Daughter Date Night with the University of Miami Hurricane's Baseball Team

Join the University of Miami Hurricanes as they host the Virginia Cavaliers at home for a princess-themed night out at Mark Light Field on the University of Miami Campus.

Purchase your tickets today at http://gocan.es/grouppromo and enter the promo code: DATENIGHT. For additional information, see flyer.

It's Your Planet - Love It! Journey

Volunteers Lynn Burns and Dave Van Camp of the Sunchariot Service Unit are hosting the Florida Earth Festival on April 23, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 pm for Daisies through Seniors, which will feature the It's Your Planet-Love It Journey!

When: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Where: University Woodlands Park, 2501 St. Andrews Boulevard, Boca Raton

Who can come: All registered Girl Scouts in Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, and Senior levels

Price: $35/girl, includes associated Journey Awards

Where can I register: http://www.floridaearthfestival.com/girl-scouts/

Please note: REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE AS SOON AS EACH LEVEL REACHES CAPACITY WHICH MAY OCCUR PRIOR TO THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE OF MARCH 31, 2016.

Questions? Contact Lynn Burns at lynn_m_burns@hotmail.com.

Girl Scout Day at the Rapids on May 21st

Earn your First Aid badges with the lifeguards at the Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach and then enjoy an action packed day. You'll have exclusive access before the doors open to their new ride and to enjoy the program. See flyer for additional information here.

Fish Like a Girl - Society of Women Engineers Workshop

Fish Like a Girl for Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors

Saturday, May 14th, 8:30 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.

River Center, 805 North US Highway 1, Jupiter

Cost per girl: $15

Do you think you know fishing? Think again! In this fun, hands-on workshop you'll learn not only how to fish but about conservation, fish identification and dissection. For additional information, see flyer.

Save the Date - Take Me Out to the Ball Game Overnight

Join your sister Girl Scouts from across the council in cheering on the St. Lucie Mets in a great baseball game, and then camp overnight on June 4th at 6 p.m. to June 5th at 7:30 a.m.

Registration information will be available soon. Girl Scout price includes game ticket, hot dog, chips, soda, camping, movie and breakfast. No tagalongs, males or unregistered adults are permitted to camp, but are welcome to join us at the game for just $6 per person which includes only a game ticket (it does not include food or admission back to the stadium following the game).

Questions? Contact Meredith Slaymaker at 772-812-2516 or mslaymaker@gssef.org.

Wet 'n Wild's Slumber Splash Bash Registration is Open

Wet 'n Wild's Slumber Splash Bash is here and this year it's a glow party just for Girl Scouts on June 10th! No ordinary camp-out can compare to the nonstop fun of all the rides and attractions of Wet 'n Wild by the light of the moon. It's a splash - and a bash - for the whole troop!

Event admission includes exclusive use of Wet 'n Wild's attractions, a commemorative patch, all-you-can-eat breakfast, a live DJ and themed entertainment. Advance registration is now open! Visit www.wetnwildorlando.com/slumberbash to get started and find out more about the event.

Cool Girl Scout Gear All Year-Round

Have you made a visit to one of our retail stores lately? There is plenty of new merchandise to check out. Our stores have everything you need to make it your best Girl Scout year ever! Questions? Email Jodi Potter at jpotter@gssef.org.

You can also shop anytime by visiting our Online Store that is open 24/7.

No April Fools Here - The Bunny Left Behind Some Eggs To Share
We invite you to visit one of our retail store locations on Saturday, April 2nd from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and SAVE with a surprise discount. When you select a pretty egg from the basket, you'll receive a surprise discount on your entire purchase! Your discount will range from 10% - 25% off. It is a great way to save some money on your end of the year supplies like bridging kits. See store for details.

I Can't Wait for My Next Girl Scout Adventure!

We'd Love to Give You a Shout Out

Do you have photos from your troop or service unit activities that you would like to share? We'd love to give you a shout out. To submit them, complete this short form here.

The Society of Women Engineers hosted a Naturalist Workshop for Girl Scouts in March

which included the following fun, hands on activities and learning experiences for our budding Naturalists: 1) The Power of Plants: Plants Plus 101; How Plants Help People 2) Become a Naturalist: Go on a Flower Hunt; Take a Tree Trip; Flower Dissection 3) Have Fun with Flowers: Design Your Own Garden; The Great Tree Debate 4) River Center Plant Service Project: Planting flowers for the next generation. There were 56 Girl Scouts that participated in this workshop.

Girl Scouts in Troop #20924 had an awesome Cookie Season and decided to use their cookie proceeds for an outdoors adventure weekend at Forever Florida, an eco-ranch and wildlife conservation area. One of their favorite experiences was zip-lining.

Girl Scouts in Troop #20962 could take action to help save your life if needed! The girls successfully completed a CPR and First Aid Certification course and they are now officially certified.