June 30, 2016

On My Honor

Volunteer and Family Newsletter

www.girlscouts-gssi.org

Office will be closed Monday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day.

Summer office and shop hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Special mid-summer edition

Upcoming Girl / Troop / Family Events

Important REMINDERS and DEADLINES

Check the online calendar for many more events!

The Program Guide is full of great opportunities for girls!

What are you doing this summer?

Summer Camp programs at Camp Koch

Adventure Day, July 16. (Deadline to register is July 11.)

Schedule your own adventure at Camp Koch

Girl Scout Swim Party

Saturday, July 9, 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

(Deadline to register is tomorrow, July 1.)

Burdette Park, Evansville

Engineering and Manufacturing Creativity Camp

Monday, July 11- Friday, July 15, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

University of Southern Indiana

Help choose 2017 Cookie Program recognitions

Your opinion matters to ABC Interbake as a decision is made about cookie recognitions. Leaders and parents, encourage your girls to vote for their favorites by July 15. Recognitions are on display in the council office.

Name the 2017 Cookie Mascot

Submit your names for the mama and baby llama pair by Friday, July 8. The two winning girls will win their very own set of cuddly, plush llamas! Submit your llama names, your name, and your troop number to cookies@girlscouts-gssi.org. All entries must be made by registered Girl Scouts in grades K-12.

Get Outdoors!

Reconnecting kids and nature for the Hoosier Bicentennial: Presenting the first-ever Children of Indiana Nature Park, which will offer K-12 students in Indiana both a virtual and hands-on experience with nature! Visit http://www.ilovemyland.org for more information. Many of the activities can be used in conjunction with Girl Scout badge earning activities.

Save the date: Fall Event

When: Sunday, September 18, 2016

Where: Mesker Park Zoo, Evansville

Travel Internationally with GSSI

Registration is now open for the following travel opportunities.

Travel meeting will be held Monday, August 8 to discuss money earning opportunities for enrolled participants.

Paris: June 14-June 21, 2017

Spain 2018: July 9-July 19, 2018/ $200 early enrollment discount!

Australia; June 27- July 8, 2019

Pricing, tour itinerary, and enrollment here

Questions: program@girlscouts-gssi.org

Call to Action

Is your troop working on the Community Service Bar or Service to Girl Scouting bar? Are you a volunteer who enjoys interacting with the public? Troops and/or volunteers are needed to help at the Girl Scout booth at the Downtown Evansville First Fridays on August 5 and September 2, between 5:30 and 9:00 p.m. If you are available to volunteer, please contact Paige Mehringer 812-421-4970 ext. 318, pmehringer@girlscouts-gssi.org. A staff member will be present and work with you to plan the best activity for the evening. Volunteers are encouraged to customize activities for different age levels.

CEI Update

Countdown has begun!

CEI is coming in 20 business days - and staff has been busy preparing.

CHANGES you will see over the next month:

- Staff realignment to better serve our members.

Customer Care Team (Margaret Dennis, Suzy Ingram, Melissa Rynkiewich, and Anita Smith) will be your support contact in all Girl Scout matters. They will have access to a large repository of knowledge, as well as your individual membership records. Whether by phone, email or in person, this team is here to answer your questions and provide timely and accurate support. Team members also have other duties such as data management, retail, and product sales.

Membership Development (Angie King, Hannah Daniels, Donna Hodge, Paige Mehringer) will be working to recruit and place girl and adult members and volunteers. They will guide new members through the initial welcome stages.

Membership Services (Kara Messersmith, Alyssa Kereki, Clay Prindle) will be providing program and service unit and troop support. They will ensure that our volunteers have the resources and support needed to deliver quality Girl Scout experiences to all girls.

Other staff members will also be available to support our mission delivery (Lucy Himstedt, Pat Bateman, Madalyn Bradley, Jessica Cottone, and Frank Spangler).

CHANGES in August:

- Full use of Customer Care. Once we are live in the new software system, all emails should be directed to support@girlscouts-gssi.org, and all phone calls should be made to the central number (812-421-4970). The goal of the Customer Care team is to handle 90% of issues on first contact. When needed, they will draw upon other staff member's knowledge or refer the case to them.

- New Volunteer Resources. The Volunteer Toolkit will be available tentatively on August 8. You will receive special login instructions at that time.

- Registration for membership will use the new system, but registering for activities will continue to use the current system for a few more months.

HOW to prepare:

- Attend a regional training session (optional for all volunteers; strongly encouraged for service unit leadership teams). More information in "Volunteer Learning" below.

- Attend the Council Kick-Off meetings on September 20 (Evansville) or September 22 (Jasper).

- Review your membership record online, before July 10. All current data in the membership system will be "frozen" on July 12 in preparation to migrate it to the new system. Troop co-leaders (formerly called leaders, 01s, and assistant leaders, 02s) can review records of current troop members.

Volunteer Learning

Save the dates for Fall Learning opportunities for ALL volunteers

CEI Training for Service Teams - All volunteers are welcome but Service Unit Leadership teams (managers, directors, coordinators, mentors, facilitators, etc) are strongly encouraged to attend one of these sessions. Final two weeks of July. Dates and locations will be shared via email to the service teams next week.

All Council Team (A.C.T.) Volunteer Kick-off - These celebration/meeting/training sessions are critical. All service unit and troop leadership teams should attend.

Tuesday,September 20, 6:00-8:00 p.m. - Evansville

Thursday, September 22, 6:00-8:00 p.m. - Jasper

Volunteer Retreat- This will be a fun weekend of fellowship and learning.

November 11-13 - Camp Koch

Volunteer Resources

Summer Clean-up of files

Now is the perfect time to organize your Girl Scout files.

- Finance Report and Bank Statements are due to the council office by July 30.

- Shred old permission forms prior to 2013. (Retain permission forms for 3 years)

- Shred all receipts older than 2015-2016. (Retain receipts for 1 year)

- For groups not continuing next year, follow bank procedures outlined in Volunteer Essentials, Chapter 5 on disbanding or inactive groups, and closing accounts, if applicable.

- Recycle any dated unused forms such as Scoutership, Membership, and merchandise order forms.

Year-end gifts

Thank you, volunteers! Every year at May Service Unit meetings, we deliver small tokens of appreciation. If you did not receive yours, contact the council office.

Honor/Golden Honor Troop

This award recognizes troops that achieve the Essential Elements of a Girl Scout troop and provide overall excellence in troop management and programming in a given year. To achieve this honor, leaders and girls must work in partnership with each other, other troops, Service Team and council staff. Submit the application by August 1. Troops are recognized at the fall A.C.T. Kick-off meetings.

Use of Debit Cards for Membership Renewal

For several years, Girl Scout member groups have been allowed to obtain debit cards in conjunction with their bank accounts. This is a convenient way to renew memberships for the entire troop. The details of the policy are in Volunteer Essentials, Chapter 5, Managing Group Finances. Contact support@girlscouts-gssi.org if you have questions.

Membership Fees

As you heard at the GSSI Annual Meeting and year-end service unit meetings, the National Board of Girl Scouts of the USA has made a decision to increase the annual membership fee to $25, starting October 1, 2017, for both girl and adult members. Read the letter from GSUSA CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, regarding the increase, or review the FAQs.

Blog

Change can be exciting and good, yet scary and hard, ...

Not changing could be worse.

Which direction are we choosing as Girl Scouts of Southwest Indiana?

Read the blog to find out more!

(Note: Blog is NOW updated.)

Pat on the Back

GSSI has so many great volunteers and staff who are generous with their time and talent! A big thank you goes to:

Day Camp Directors and teams for the hard work and dedication to make outdoor experiences available to girls.

Would you like to give a "Pat-on-the-Back" to a special person who went that extra mile or stepped in to help without being asked? Send an email to Margaret with the name of the volunteer or staff member and how she/he helped out.

Katie's Korner Retail Shop

Girls' Choice Art in the Outdoors Badges

The Girls' Choice Art in the Outdoors Badges are here! They are available on the online store and in Katie's Korner. The booklets can be downloaded for free in June, and starting July 1, digital downloads will cost 99 cents. Check out the badges here!

Check out the New Spring t-shirts, S-XL $14.50, 2XL $15.50