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"Come right over, I've got something for the girls of Savannah and all America and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!" Juliette Gordon Low said those words before the first Girl Scout meeting, which was held on March 12, 1912. Girl Scouts across America celebrate that day as the Girl Scout birthday. But we do not stop with one day...we have an entire week! March 6 starts Girl Scout Week with Girl Scout Sunday (Sabbath) and ends March 12 with Girl Scout Saturday. Join the weeklong celebration and give today for another 104 years of scouting.
Juliette, affectionately known as “Daisy” by her family and close friends, gathered 18 girls in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, to share what she had learned abroad about a new outdoor and educational program for youth, and with this, the Girl Scout Movement was born.
The sale of cookies as a way to finance troop activities began as early as 1917, five years after Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouts in the U.S., when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project. Thin Mints® are the top seller of this largest financial literacy program in the world.
That small gathering of girls Juliette Gordon Low hosted over a century ago has grown into a global movement in which all girls can see themselves reflected—and that today includes nearly 3 million scouts in 92 countries and over 59 million alumnae, united to make the world a better place.
Even in a technology-driven world, Girl Scouts stay connected to nature and the great outdoors, especially at camp. For a day, an overnight, an entire week. Swimming, horseback riding, archery, canoeing and campfire songs are just a few of the activities and traditions that build self-confidence, enhance teamwork, and increase awareness of the environment.
It began over 104 years ago with one woman who believed in the power of every girl. Today the Girl Scout mission marches on in building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts is the preeminent organization for girls, developing tomorrow's leaders today.