We Appreciate Our Leaders!

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” – Margaret Cousins.

This month, we prepare not only for National Volunteer Appreciation week (April 27-May 3), but also for Girl Scout Leader’s Day, April 22.

So, how do we show appreciation for our leaders and for the other volunteers who support us as Girl Scouts? Luckily, we have some ideas…

Nearly 8,000 Girl Scout volunteers from all over the U.S. participated in the 2007 Volunteer Recognition Survey recently conducted by GSUSA. The responses were from a broad pool of volunteer positions and lengths of service. Ninety-eight percent were women, and 78 percent were between the ages of 30 and 49.

The volunteers who completed the survey were given a long list of appreciation ideas that are currently used in councils nation-wide. They were asked to choose which of those appealed most to them.

Here is what they had to say:

• 88.9 % of the participants liked the idea of being recognized by troops and individual girls.
• 88.5 % found free Girl Scout trainings and workshops appealing.
• 87.5 % liked Girl Scout store discounts.
• 82.7 % said that acknowledgement in council publications appealed to them.
• 80.2 % responded in favor of GSUSA awards – badges, pins and certificates.

Here are a few ideas for helping Girl Scouts show appreciation.

Parents can help their Girl Scouts show appreciation in several ways:

• It can be as simple as giving their leader a hug and saying “Thanks for being my leader!”
• Girls can make a special thank you card and present it to the leader at the meeting that week.
• Girls might give a small homemade gift.
• Families might purchase a small gift from the Girl Scout shop to present to the leader.
• Families can offer to make dinner for the leader’s family on her troop meeting night.

Leaders can help their Girl Scouts show appreciation to other volunteers:

• Make or buy and mail a Thank You card.
• Girls might make up a skit and present it as a way of saying thanks to the volunteer.
• Do a “good deed” service project for the volunteer or the volunteer’s family.
• Give a picture of the girls in the troop.
• Make and present a scrapbook of the volunteer’s activities with the troop.

Margaret Cousins was an associate and managing editor of Good Housekeeping for 17 years before becoming managing editor at McCall’s for four years. She was also a senior editor at Doubleday and Company for 10 years.