Throughout the year, Girl Scouts all over our region are engaged in a wide range of community service activities – contributing to their communities as individuals, and as part of a troop. Girl Scouts are encouraged to connect with one another, and to reach out to those in need.

Two very successful community service projects involve all Girl Scouts in our council.

Project Undercover

For more than 15 years, Project Undercover has been GSRI's annual council service project. Each year in the fall, girls throughout the council collect underwear, socks and diapers for the 40,000 children in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts who live in poverty or encounter emergency situations. Project Undercover arranges distribution through area social service agencies. Over two million items have been collected and distributed. For more information, visit www.projectundercover.net.

Cookie Sale Service Project

Girl Scout troops may elect – at the end of each Girl Scout Cookie Sale – to make a contribution to a charitable organization selected by the council. Previous years' recipients include Operation Support Our Troops, Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center and, most recently, the RISPCA's Marvin's Fund. In honor of 100 years of Girl Scouting, the beneficiary of the 2012 Girl Scout Cookie Sale will be The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, www.gloriagemma.org. Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts of the USA, died from breast cancer at a time when the words "breast" and "cancer" were not spoken in "polite company". Now, the newest generation of the organization she founded is becoming more and more involved in raising awareness to help girls and women cope with its impact on families and on their own health as well.

Urban Outreach

Girl Scouts of Rhode Island believes that every girl who wants to be a Girl Scout should be a Girl Scout.

In various urban communities in Rhode Island and southeastern MA, girls can become part of after-school troops or take advantage of six-week summer sessions, the costs of which are subsidized by corporate and other private foundations. Last year alone, generous contributions enabled 1,300 girls to become Girl Scouts, including girls living at the Crossroads Family Shelter in North Kingstown, RI.

You, too, can support our Urban Outreach efforts by making a donation online.