In our Council, we raise money by selling cookies and magazines. The girls do a terrific job selling these items. However, selling cookies alone would require that each girl sell 1,334 boxes of cookies to earn their way to Savannah. This is not very reasonable, given the fact we are in an area with lots of other Girl Scouts. So, we have explored other fundraising opportunities. The girls have been raising money for our trip to Savannah through babysitting. We held six "Kids Night Out" events in 1997-98, in addition to babysitting five times at PTA meetings throughout the school year.
The "Kids Night Out" events are held in a church basement from 6-10:00 p.m. on Friday evenings. One girl is assigned the task of taking the registrations prior to the event. Flyers are distributed at Service Unit Meetings, to Troop Leaders, and others, to advertise the scheduled evenings. The girls are responsible for bringing a game, activity, song, or craft to do with the children. The children attending have so much fun, they don’t want to leave!
A nutritious snack of juice and non-sugary cookie or cracker is provided. Our schedule is:
5:45 - Girls arrive and set up for evening of fun
6:00 - Check-in; get name tag; adult complete Parent Authorization Form
6:30 - Count children and compare to registrations
7:00 - Recount children; potty break
7:30 - Recount children; snack prepared by girls
8:00 - Recount children; potty break
9:00 - Turn on VCR to a kid-friendly movie (usually a Disney one)
10:00 - End of evening; clean-up; children picked up
10:15 - Finished cleaning up; lights out; doors locked
Of course the girls love playing and taking care of the babies the most, but they do a terrific job playing with the older children as well.
A number of positive outcomes have emerged from this experience for the girls.
1. The girls have gained valuable experience babysitting.
2. The girls have been certified in babysitting, making them more marketable in the babysitting community.
3. The girls have asked to babysit independent of troop activities.
4. The girls have received other babysitting assignments where four or more girls were needed.
5. The Troop has made alot of money for our trip. We will be continuing to babysit during the 1998-99 school year to, hopefully, raise the balance of what we need.
6. The girls have learned they have to plan things for their babysitting experiences and not just "show up."
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