The Basics

THE BASICS

MEETINGS: For the 2004-05 school year, our troop will meet from 4-5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. We will have longer meetings on early dismissal days. Carpools will be available for those who need it. Please notify Kristina if your daughter will be absent so we are not waiting around the school trying to find her. Troop meetings will not be held during school holidays/vacations.

COMMUNICATION: Each girl needs to have access to e-mail as most of our communication will be done via e-mail and will need to be checked weekly at a minimum. If a parent does not feel comfortable allowing access to e-mail and the internet, then the parent will need to print the info for their daughter. This will be our main method of communication.

Additional information (permission slips, etc.) will be kept in a file box with the scout’s name and should be read by both the Scout and her parents. The file box needs to be checked every week.

A Calendar of Events is available on our website. More detailed info will be distributed to the girls and will be available at our Members Only Group Site.

ADMINISTRATION

COSTS: There is a $10.00 fee for annual national dues payable at registration time. Since we did not attend many summer activities during summer 2004, we will not need to collect the usual $30 troop dues. Troop dues are used to help defray the costs of badges and patches and keeps us afloat until fundraising money comes in. There will often be a fee associated with specific camping trips, field trips, or events. The troop underwrites part of the cost; we ask the participating scout to pay a portion as well.

YEAR-END ACTIVITY FUND: Girls will be required to bring $0.25 to each troop meeting. This money will be set aside for our Year-End Activity (special field trip).

FUNDRAISING: There are two formal fund raising programs during the year: Nuts & Magazines (Fall Product Info) Cookie Sales (Cookie Central)

The Nuts & Magazines (QSP) program begins in October. QSP is a magazine-ordering program, and is NOT a door-to-door fundraiser. QSP is intended for scouts and their families to order or renew magazines they would normally get. The local Girl Scouts receive approximately 40% of total sales. Our troop can earn from 10 - 20% of their total sales, which go directly to the troop treasury to pay for the many activities we do.

The most famous fund-raiser in Girl Scouting is Cookies. Scouts take orders in January, make deliveries in February, and do booth sales in March of each year. This is our major fund-raising source, and the troop normally sees a profit of just over $1,000 from this annual event.

The troop may also submit an application for additional fund raising activities this year.

PERMISSION SLIPS: Whenever the troop meets outside of the normal meeting location, a permission slip is required. These need to be signed and filled out prior to the activity (which also lets leaders know how many girls will attend). Due dates for permission slips and fees need to be met, as many times there are fees that must be paid before the trip. Since we incur the expense of printing these permission slips, we ask that they be returned even if the Scout is not attending. If we do not have enough drivers for a field trip, girls who turn in late permission slips will not be able to attend. Event fees will not be reimbursed for cancellations if any expenses have already been paid.

HEALTH HISTORY RECORDS: At the beginning of the year, you will be asked to update or fill out a new Health History Record form. We take these on every trip so that should something happen to a scout, we will have all needed medical information at our fingertips. Adults and siblings who travel with the troop should also fill these forms out.

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