You can join the Girl Scouts of Colorado S’mores Club by participating in both the 2019-2020 Girl Scout Fall Product Program and Cookie Program. Earn the new S’mores Club membership rewards for this year – a duffle bag and hoodie embroidered with the S’mores Club logo, and a special personalized patch – by meeting the criteria outlined below. How to Qualify GIRLS: If you sell 15 items online during the 2019 Fall Product Program and 300 packages during the 2020 Cookie Program, you get: A S’mores Club hoodie and duffle bag and personalized, S’mores Club avatar patch TROOPS: If the troop sells $350 in online sales during the 2019 Fall Product Program, you get: An exclusive booth selection opportunity for the 2020 Cookie Program And – If the troop has a 300 packages per selling girl average during the cookie program, the Troop Fall Product Manager and Troop Cookie Manager are eligible for volunteer rewards. A S’mores Club hoodie and duffle bag, and a personalized S’mores Club avatar patch for the TFPM and TCM* Please note – The troop per girl average (PGA) is calculated based on the total number of packages a troop sells, divided by the number of selling girls in that troop. *If the TFPM and TCM are the same person, only one reward will be given. Also, the reward for adults is for troop participation only. Juliettes can qualify for S’mores Club and receive the personalized patch, duffle bag, and hoodie. However, caregivers of Juliettes cannot receive the duffle bag, hoodie, personalized patch, or an exclusive booth selection opportunity. For a quick reference guide, check out the S’mores Club flyer and share it with girls and adults in your troop and service unit. If you have questions, read our S’mores Club FAQ or contact inquiry@gscolorado.org. #20192020SmoresClub #VolunteerNews #2019FallProductProgram #cookies #SmoresClub #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #FallProductProgram #2019GirlScoutCookieProgram #CouncilNews #cookievolunteers

UPDATE AS OF AUGUST 1, 2019: THIS EVENT IS FULL. Girl Scouts of Colorado invites 15 Girl Scout Daisies to come build an awesome roller coaster car and ramp with LEGO Bricks! Your Girl Scout Daisy will explore learning through play as she builds, tests, and races her very own roller coaster car and ramp with a team of Daisy friends to support her every step of the way! She’ll even earn an awesome “Daisy Roller Coaster Design Challenge” badge to fuel her growing sense of skill-building, goal-crushing, barrier-breaking Girl Scout pride—SWEET. Sunday, September 15, 2019 LEGO Store Colorado Mills 14500 W Colfax Ave #482 Lakewood, CO 80401 Event time: 9:45 – 11:00 a.m. Cost: FREE Please note the following for this special event: Capacity is limited to 15 Girl Scout Daisies and four parents/guardians/troop leaders. All Girl Scouts who sign up must have renewed their Girl Scout membership for the 2019 – 2020 membership year. Haven’t renewed yet? That’s OK! Sign your girls up for another year of unmatched fun and adventure with Girl Scouts NOW! Registration will close on Tuesday, August 13 OR when capacity is met. Do not register Girl Scouts unless you know they are able to attend this event. Each girl will be required to submit a signed parent permission form (with emergency contact information), GSUSA photo release, LEGO photo release, and LEGO in-store liability waiver. Forms will be emailed out prior to the event and must be returned via email by 5 p.m. on August 16. To register, email aimee.artzer@gscolorado.org with the information listed below for each individual Girl Scout Daisy. Do not register Girl Scouts unless you know they are able to attend this event. Parent/caregiver first name Parent/caregiver last name Email address Zip code Girl Scout Daisy’s first name Girl Scout Daisy’s lase name Girl Scout Daisy grade Questions? Email aimee.artzer@gscolorado.org #Daisy #Lego #Lakewood #GirlScoutDaisy #Communitypartnerships #Daisies #communitypartners #GirlScoutDaisies #MetroDenver

Submitted by Lori Anderson Metro Denver Elizabeth Troop 40713 from Elizabeth just returned from a fantastic trip to Iceland! The Senior/Ambassador troop spent seven days in this beautiful country. They spent one day in the capital city of Reykjavik, then headed to camp at the Ulfljotsvatn Scout Centre. The next three days were on-site doing archery, rock wall climbing, team building games, obstacle courses (one over water!), canoeing and kayaking, hiking, and a campfire. They also participated in two service projects,  planting about 350 tree saplings and laying a concrete paver patio. The last three days were on off-site excursions, including horseback riding, caving through a 9,000-year-old lava tube, visiting a geothermal-heated spa, hiking on a glacier, and ending with a 15-mile hike to a geothermally heated river. The girls planned and saved for the trip for three years prior to traveling. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #Elizabeth #Iceland #MetroDenver #travel

Girl Scouts of Colorado recently received the beautiful thank you letter below from The Gathering Place. Founded in 1986, The Gathering Place is the only daytime drop-in center in metropolitan Denver that serves women, transgender individuals, and their children who are experiencing poverty, many of whom are also experiencing homelessness. Dear Girl Scouts of Colorado, On behalf of The Gathering Place and the members we serve, please accept our deepest gratitude for your recent donation of the following items: Six Cases of Thin Mint cookies (72 packages) received on 7/22/2019. Your generous gift is a vital lifeline for the 8,000 women and children who will come to us for help this year. There are so few other options available to them in Denver – your kindness ensures that we will continue to be responsive to those whose critical needs often go unmet. Founded in 1986, The Gathering Place is the only daytime drop-in center in metropolitan Denver that serves women, children, and transgender individuals who are experiencing poverty, many of whom are homeless. Your contribution gives us hope and we hold that hope for every one of our members, every day. Your donation ensures that our members can shower, do laundry, receive mail, store their belongings, use the telephone or the computer lab, study for the GED or get help finding a job. It means we can care for children while their mothers take advantage of our programs – or, simply just rest awhile. Your thoughtfulness finances more than 65,000 meals each year in a safe, pleasant space offering healthy, nutritious options. For more information about what we do, please visit www.tgpdenver.org. We hope you’ll encourage your friends to follow your lead. They can spread the word through social media, volunteer or donate – all valuable ways to support our important community. With deepest gratitude, Liam Flannagan Analytics Administrator The Gathering Place #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #2019GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookiedonation

Submitted by John Silver, GSCO Guest Blogger Metro Denver Denver Hello Girl Scouts! Did you know that August is Art Appreciation Month? Here are some art-related badges that you might like to earn: Daisy: Outdoor Art Maker Brownie: Pottery Junior: Drawing Cadette: Comic Artist Senior: Collage Artist Ambassador: Outdoor Art Master Here are some organizations that may be able to help you with meeting the requirements for these badges: Art Students League of Denver http://asld.org/ Arvada Ceramics Art Guild – This organization has a program designed to help a Brownie Girl Scout complete the Potter badge from start to finish! More information under Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Anytime Activities. Studio Arts Boulder http://www.studioartsboulder.org/ Carbondale Clay Center http://www.carbondaleclay.org/ Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College https://fac.coloradocollege.edu/ Durango Arts Center https://durangoarts.org/ Foothills Art Center https://www.foothillsartcenter.org/ Glenwood Springs Arts Council https://glenwoodarts.org/ So, go make some art!  If you earn an art-related badge, you could inspire others by sharing your project on the GSCO Blog in August. John Silver of Metro Denver is proud to be an adult volunteer for Girl Scouts of Colorado. As the brother and son of Girl Scouts, John is now an adult seeing Girl Scouts through new eyes. John will be reporting on things he learns– that you might not know either! He will also be researching badge earning and other opportunities for Girl Scouts today. #ArtAppreciationMonth #artbadges #badges

Submitted by Jody Clair Pikes Peak Colorado Springs There is still room for 7 or more Girl Scouts to attend an amazing trip to Costa Rica with me as the main leader! The girl should have completed fifth grade as a minimum (at travel time, so present fifth graders are encouraged to attend) to attend and all grades 6-12 are welcome! If you are completing 12th grade right before we travel, it can be your senior trip! There is even a way to earn some high school credit on this trip! Please contact me for all your questions to be answered! Jody Clair, girlscoutjody@gmail.com. PS- YES! There is still enough time for you to do money earning activities and attend the group meetings to learn many travel skills before we even leave in June 2020! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #ColoradoSprings #CostaRica #travel #PikesPeak #CostaRica2020

Have you heard the buzz about the 42 NEW Girl Scout badges and Journeys? Wondering where to find out more? The Volunteer Toolkit is the answer and FREE! Accessing the Volunteer Toolkit If you are a troop leader, you can access your troop’s Volunteer Toolkit through the Girl Scouts of Colorado website. You will have to have a membership for 2019-2020 to access this information. Not sure if you have renewed? Contact us, we can check and help you renew. Go to girlscoutsofcolorado.org Click on the “MY GS” tab at the top right of the webpage. Select “Volunteer Toolkit” Use your email and password for your MY GS account. Not sure what this is? Contact us, we can help! Families, you can also access your girl’s troop’s Volunteer Toolkit the same way. You have view only privileges, but this is a great way to stay informed with the happenings in the troop! Juliette Girl Scouts, hang tight, you will have access starting August 1, 2019. Questions? Contact GSCO Mission Delivery Manager Emily Speck at emily.speck@gscolorado.org. Still have questions? Join us on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at noon for a Facebook LIVE event! Can’t attend live, but have a question to ask? Email Emily your question and we will answer it! You can access the recording of the Facebook LIVE on our Facebook page under videos. Ready to explore the Volunteer Toolkit? Check out these quick and awesome videos to walk you through using the system. Setting up your year plan: https://youtu.be/n0nrh4NJBFk Setting meeting dates, times, and locations: https://youtu.be/R_nGzg4Ux3w Customizing your year plan: https://youtu.be/uTdSFjJcFu0 Meeting plan overview: https://youtu.be/AHw9W6YyOPU Not into digital planning? You can also purchase copies of the new badge booklets through the GSCO Retail Shop: https://www.girlscoutshop.com/BADGES-PROGRAM/ALL-PROGRAM-MATERIALS/BADGE-REQUIREMENTS Have questions? Email inquiry@gscolorado.org. #GirlScoutsoftheUSA #VolunteerNews #GSUSA #STEM #Journeys #badges

Submitted by Ryan Lockwood, Colorado State Forest Service Northern & Northeastern CO Fort Collins With the scars of destructive 2018 wildfires still highly visible throughout Colorado, and affected families still working toward recovery, many in the state want to know what they can do to help. One way to have a positive impact on affected forests and communities is through the replanting of trees, which is the goal of the donor-driven Restoring Colorado’s Forests Fund. Donations made to the Colorado State Forest Service-administered fund are used to provide seedlings for planting in areas impacted by wildfires, floods or other disasters, with an emphasis on areas critical to water protection, wildlife habitat and public benefit. Every $2 donation to the fund purchases one seedling, at no cost to the landowner. Since the CSFS established the program in 2003, its nursery has used program funds to provide more than 122,000 trees. “Planting trees provides an important means to help stabilize soils, protect water supplies and restore the landscape as we address the long-term recovery of our communities and forests,” said Mike Lester, state forester and CSFS director. The CSFS nursery in Fort Collins grows all the seedling trees for the program, to ensure that only those best adapted to local conditions are used for restoration efforts. This year, the CSFS received an $11,000 donation to the Restoring Colorado’s Forests Fund from the Girl Scouts of Colorado, in honor of the organization’s volunteers. The donation, which represents the second large contribution from GSCO in the last two years, is intended to amplify the organization’s impacts toward reforestation efforts in Colorado. “In recognition of all the amazing things that our volunteers do, we chose the gift of trees that will also have a lasting and positive impact by helping to restore forested areas in our beautiful state,” said Girl Scouts of Colorado President and CEO Stephanie A. Foote. The CSFS and Girl Scouts of Colorado continue building on a partnership largely intended to help youth gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of trees and forests in Colorado. As part of this effort, in June CSFS staff partnered with GSCO to help educate hundreds of Girl Scouts and their parents about forestry, the environment and related careers at a World Environment Day event at the Meadow Mountain Ranch near Allenspark. In the past decade, the Restoring Colorado’s Forests Fund has used donations from individuals and organizations like GSCO for replanting efforts, in locations that include the burn scars of the High Park Fire west of Fort Collins, the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs and the Weber Fire near Durango. Following those fires, the loss of trees and other vegetation led to significant runoff and erosion – resulting in damaged hillsides, polluted waterways, highway closures and road damage. The CSFS has intentionally delayed providing trees from the fund for replanting efforts this year, to allow time to first evaluate natural recovery from the 2018 fires. Over the fall and winter, after seeing how burned areas have recovered, the CSFS will assess applications from affected landowners and provide trees to recipients early in 2020. To make a donation directly to the Restoring Colorado’s Forests Fund, visit https://advancing.colostate.edu/RestoringColoradosForests. *** The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) provides professional forestry assistance, wildfire mitigation expertise and outreach and education to help landowners and communities achieve their forest management goals. The CSFS is a service and outreach agency of the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University and provides staffing for the Division of Forestry within the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. For more information, visit csfs.colostate.edu. Girl Scouts of Colorado is 32,000 strong—more than 22,000 girls and 10,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world. Our extraordinary journey began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga., she organized the very first Girl Scout troop, and every year since, we’ve honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. We’re the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org. #VolunteerNews #NorthernampNortheasternCO #Communitypartnerships #ColoradoStateForestService #NationalVolunteerAppreciationMonth #communitypartners #VolunteerAppreciation #FortCollins #CouncilNews #RestoringColoradosForestsFund

Submitted by Tiffany Baker Metro Denver Lone Tree- Highlands Ranch Highlands Ranch / Lone Tree Cadette Troop 59 invites you to kick-off the Girl Scout year on a cool note with a Girl Scout Ice Cream Social.  This is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with Girl Scouts at Cresthill Middle School in Highlands Ranch on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 at 7 p.m.  Lots of fun ice cream toppings will be available for the girls to enjoy their own creations. Registration is now open on the Girl Scouts of Colorado Events Calendar. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #GSCOevents #HighlandsRanch #LoneTree #icecream #MetroDenver

Submitted by Katie DeBell Mountain Communities Kremmling Girl Scout Troop 50292 of Kremmling met with Kevin Singel, author of the book “Finding Gold in Colorado,” and went gold panning. Kevin showed the girls some of his basic gold panning tools and shared a few different techniques to pan for gold. Each of the girls found a small piece of gold before they were done. It was an amazing experience, many thanks to Kevin! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #goldpanning #Kremmling #mountaincommunities

Girl Scout Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes are invited to learn first aid with South Metro Fire’s first responders on Sunday, September 22, 2019 from 9 a.m. – noon. You will also get to talk to firefighters about their jobs and learn basic first aid skills to earn your “First Aid” Badge. Register online: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2019/first_aid_with_south.html Stations will include: How to get help from 911 Talk to someone who treats injured persons Basic first aid kit Clean minor injuries Prevent/treat outdoor injuries (bee stings) Shock types Weather injuries (hypo and hyperthermia) Badges are included in the cost of the workshop and they will be distributed at the event. A basic liability waiver will need to be submitted for each girl upon check-in at the event. The waiver will be emailed out ahead of time and available at check-in. We ask that girls bring a full, reusable water bottle with them as well. This is not a drop off event. All Girl Scouts must attend with her parent/guardian or troop leaders. Adult to girl ratios for events must be met. Troop Leaders: we suggest registering troops individually. Registration will close when the event has met capacity OR on Tuesday, September 10. Questions? Email aimee.artzer@gscolorado.org. If you have any questions about this event or have trouble completing registration, please contact inquiry@gscolorado.org or 877-404-5708. #GSCOevents #Communitypartnerships #Denver #SouthMetroFireRescue #communitypartners #firstaid #badge #MetroDenver #FirstAidbadge

Girl Scout Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes are invited try non-contact flag rugby on Sunday, August 25, 2019 from 2 – 4 p.m. in Glendale. All participants will also earn an exclusive Girls Rugby patch! No experience necessary – event organizers will teach you everything you need to know! This is not a drop off event. All girls should attend with a parent, guardian, or troop leader. Parent, guardians, or troop leaders are asked to observe and cheer the girls on! Walk up registration day of will be accepted. Questions? Email colorado@girlsrugbyinc.com. Register online: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2019/girl_scouts_flag_rug.html 40963104_2019_gs_event_flyer_v1 #Glendale #GSCOevents #MetroDenver