Gold Project "community" question

[fling1 10]

Hello, experieced Girl Scouters,

 

I have a newbie question about the Gold project that I'm sure one of you can answer definitively for me.

 

The Gold project is supposed to benefit the "community". But I have read at least one opinion that this can include the "Girl Scout community."

 

I know that, for example, work done at BSA camps is specifically marked out-of-bounds for Eagle projects, and my understanding is that in the BSA context, "for the community" is defined as the "non-BSA community."

 

Do the Girl Scouts make this same distinction? Can you point me to an official description on what this "benefit the community" requirement means?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

-Derek.

[ScoutNut 147]

It used to be that the GSUSA SILVER award project could be done for the Girl Scout community, but the GOLD award project could not.

 

There no longer seems to be any specific statement against doing a Gold Award project for Girl Scouts that I could find. I do not have a copy of the "Go For It" booklet, so there might be something in there. This is the information on the GSUSA National site :

 

http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_central/insignia/highest_awards/gold_award.asp

 

While it no longer specifically states that projects benefiting just Girl Scouting should not be done, it does seem to say that the project should be more than that.

 

From GSUSA on the Gold Award Project :

 

"The project is something that fulfills a need within a girl's community (whether local or global), creates change, and hopefully, is something that becomes ongoing. If it is an event, the event should be something that people will want to continue for the next year; if it is a service, it should be something that creates change or action with long-term possibilities, empowering others besides just the girl; if it is something tangible, it should come with a plan for use and maintenance within the community."

 

If your daughter has a project in mind that involves the Girl Scouting community only, she should talk to her Gold Award Advisor about it. Whatever she does, she will need to have the project approved by her Council's Gold Award Committee BEFORE she starts it. If she is a Senior in high school, she has limited time to get a project approved & finished & can not really afford a lot of wasted effort on a project that will not be approved. Have her talk to her Advisor or her Council's Gold Award person ASAP.