FAQs

For girls ages 5 to 14, the required unifying look includes wearing a choice of a tunic, vest or sash for displaying official pins and awards, combined with their own solid white shirts and khaki pants or skirts.

Girl Scouts in high school can also wear a scarf that unites their look with the sisterhood of Girl Scouts around the world.

For adult members the unifying look of the uniform is a Girl Scout official scarf or tie for men, worn with the official membership pins, combined with their own navy blue business attire.

You can purchase these online, or at one of our three council shop locations.

Girl Scouts at each level have one required element (tunic, vest or sash) for the display of official pins and awards, which will be required when girls participate in ceremonies or officially represent the Girl Scout Movement. View a diagram showing where each item is placed on the tunic, vest or sash. 

Girl Scout badges, patches, awards, and other insignia should be presented, worn, or displayed only after Girl Scouts have completed the requirements outlined in official program materials.

Girl Scout volunteers are adults 18 years and older who can be a positive adult role model to girls, and who accept the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Today’s girl needs the time, resources and commitment of a community of volunteers to help pave her way.

All Girl Scout volunteers who have direct contact with girls, handle money or manage finances, or provide supervision to girls (other than their own child) at overnight or travel events are required to complete the Volunteer Application and pass a criminal background check.

Visit the Volunteer page and fill-out the simple online form. Once you submit the form, a GSHS  staff member will get in touch with you to discuss the various volunteer options and how you'd like to participate.

After you've spoken with a staff member (or if you're a current volunteer renewing your volunteer application and background), you'll be directed to complete the background screening process.

GSHS has three camps offering several different options, whether you want to camp overnight or just for the day as an individual, with a troop or as a service unit.

Camp Fisherville

Camp Tik-A-Witha

Kamp Kiwani 

Girl Scouts is for every girl--and you don't even need to be part of a troop. Our summer camps are open to any girl, regardless of Girl Scout membership, that is entering grades 1^st through 12^th. 

Camps are staffed with counselors, food staff, a healthcare manager and specialty staff for the horse and adventure programs. These staff members are carefully selected for their skills, as well as how they work with children and adults.

They participate in extensive training sessions and each every one of our counselors becomes American Red Cross CPR / First Aid certified.  

We also provide certified lifeguards, and archery and challenge course instructors--depending on the camp's features.

In addition, each camp has a camp ranger and resident camp director. 

Yes! We are proud to say that both Camp Tik-A-Witha and Kamp Kiwani are ACA Accredited are. The main purpose of the ACA Accreditation Program is to educate camp owners and directors in the administration of key aspects of camp operation, particularly those related to program quality and the health and safety of campers and staff. The standards establish guidelines for needed policies, procedures, and practices.

Each camp is different, but the three arrangements widely available are:

• lodges – include basic necessities
• cabins – beds in screened in or open structures
• platform tents - mattresses on the floor or cots

Our Outdoor Section has more details on the amenities at each property.

For safety reasons, access to camp properties is limited when camp is in session.

Mail from home is welcome and is delivered daily. Parents may leave mail at check-in for delivery during the session. (Please include the following information in all mail you send: session name, session date and camper’s name.)

In the event of any emergency or change in plans, please call the camp director. Camp phone numbers are provided with your confirmation materials and camp directors contact parents in case of an emergency or illness. Please note: camp phones are limited to camp business only.

Volunteers accompanying girls camping are required to complete the Troop Camp License course and CPR/First Aid Training. See our Volunteer Training section for more information. Adults accompanying girls to camps are not required to have these trainings.

Yes. Check out our Summer Camp FAQs 

Girl Scout Cookies can be purchased only from girls and only during cookie season, which kicks off in January of each year.

For more information on the Cookie Program, visit our Cookie Program web page or like us on Facebook for regular sale updates.

This special two-day event held each cookie season is a great opportunity for Girl Scouts and Girl Scout supporters to share with the community the importance of the Cookie Program and what it does for the girls and their communities. 

Yes, you can purchase Girl Scout cookies online from a Girl Scout through Digital Cookie, a digital platform to prepare girls to be leaders in the high-tech, fast paced, e-commerce world of today. This dynamic, engaging, interactive and safe tool allows girls to have fun learning and selling cookies. 

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the premier entrepreneurship opportunity for girls, but it is just one part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Girl Scouts participate in many activities throughout the year and work on many projects. Cookies are just one of those activities. And because only girls may sell Girl Scout Cookies, their market availability is limited to the 6 to 8-week period when they are engaged in the program.

With every purchase from a GSHS Girl Scout or troop, approximately 70% of the proceeds goes to the local council and troops, with the remainder going to the baker to pay for the cookies. 

There are many ways you can change the life of a girl by supporting Girl Scouting. See the Support page for more information.

Personal contributions are directly applied to the many critical resources that make Girl Scouting successful in our 59 counties.

While the Girl Scout Cookie Program helps to keep the cost of activities affordable, Girl Scouting needs financial support from donors to develop new curriculum, provide transportation, recruit volunteers, meet safety standards, and provide financial assistance so more girls can benefit from a quality Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Donate 

No, Girl Scouts Heart of the South and Girl Scouts of the USA do not have a relationship with Planned Parenthood. Learn more.

In Girl Scouts, we’ve always been, and remain, an organization with a deep spiritual commitment. We also have a deep and very longstanding commitment to inclusiveness. We welcome and embrace girls of every race, ethnicity, level of ability and religion. The Constitution of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America is very specific on this point:

The motivating force in Girl Scouting is spiritual. The ways in which members identify and fulfill their spiritual beliefs are personal and private.

The Girl Scout Movement is open to all girls and adults who accept the Girl Scout Promise and Law and meet membership requirements.

We encourage girls to develop connections to their own spiritual and religious beliefs by earning recognitions provided by their faith communities and by earning the My Promise, My Faith pin, which helps a girl deepen the connection between the Girl Scout Law and her faith.

We support the right of faith leaders to verify that programming delivered to girls in their places of worship is consistent with their faith’s teachings.

Learn more about Girl Scouts and faith and also read about Girl Scouting and the Catholic Church

Every Girl Scout and Girl Guide organization is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts - and each Member Organization, including Girl Scouts of the USA, pays dues. WAGGGS operates in much the same way as the United Nations: each member organization pays dues based on the size of its membership and the per capita income of the country in which the organization resides. Individual Girl Scouts are not members of WAGGGS.  The national funds that GSUSA sends to WAGGGS come solely from investment income. 

Membership dues, from girls and from adults, are not used to pay the WAGGGS Quota. All dues collected from members are used to pay for services that directly impact the development and delivery of Girl Scouting to girls in the USA and girls who are involved in USA Girl Scouts Overseas, our program that brings Girl Scouting to American families who are living and working abroad.

Girl Scouts Heart of the South donates no money to WAGGGS. Individual Girl Scout troops may donate to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund, a Girl Scouts of the USA fund that supports service projects, training and international opportunity events, as well as exchange visiting programs.

See more FAQs on Girl Scouts and social issues.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Girl Scouts in your area, please contact Jenny Jones, Senior Director of Community Engagement and Advancement at jenny.jones@girlscoutshs.org or 662-350-6041.

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and Girl Scouts Heart of the South (GSHS) does not take a position or develop materials on these issues. We feel our role is to help girls develop self-confidence and good decision-making skills that will help them make wise choices in all areas of their lives.

Parents or guardians make all decisions regarding program participation that may be of a sensitive nature. Consistent with that belief, GSUSA directs councils, including volunteer leaders, to get written parental permission for any locally planned program that could be considered sensitive.