I care media kit 2014 v1

(800) 400-GIRL www.gssgc.org

GSSGC

GSSGC I Care Program

Program The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council’s I Care program involves the cookie program, the nut and candy sale, as well as local food drives held in regional areas. We believe that in order to be a leader within your community, you have to truly become a part of that community. Girl Scouts offers girls the unique opportunity to identify and support issues that are important to them, form partnerships with other people, businesses and organizations and create sustainable projects that change the world around them.

The I Care Program supports military service people, local food banks, fire & rescue, police & sherrifs departments, women’s shelters, Ronald McDonald houses, camps and several other community organizations. People purchasing Girl Scout cookies and snacks can choose to donate product as gifts to any one of these deserving organizations

It is the good deeds we do, standing side by side, making the world a better place, that makes me proud to be a Girl Scout.

Elizabeth Locke-Thomas Council VP of Product Sales

Last year, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio made a national record breaking donation to Operation Gratitude thanks to the generosity of customers who contributed cookies to the I Care Program. In 2012, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council partnered with Operation Gratitude and the USO of Cochella Valley.

Remember, if you can’t eat ‘em, treat ‘em! For more information, visit http:// bit.ly/ICAREcookies to check out the video.

Are I Care purchases tax-deductible?

Cookies, nuts and candies purchased through the I CARE Program are taxdeductible. This is because these cookies are purchased as a donation to others – our military troops, food pantries, shelters – and the consumer does not receive any cookies and does not benefit directly from paying for those cookies.

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program OUR I CARE COMMUNITY PARTNERS Each year Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio strives to expand our I Care partnerships within our communities. Some of our current partners include:

Stats I Care Donation Totals for Cookies 200,000 boxes 150,000 boxes 100,000 boxes 50,000 boxes 0

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

I Care Donation Totals for Nuts & Candy 10,000 8,000 6,000

In addition to these amazing organizations, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio supports our girl’s family members serving our Country abroad by packing and sending care packages directly to them.

4,000 2,000 0

• A Better Way • Desert AIDS Project • DOVES (Domestic Violence Education & Service) • High Desert Homeless • Inland Temporary Homes • Loma Linda Ronald McDonald • Martha’s Village • Mary’s Table (of Mary’s Mercy Center) • Michelle’s Place (Women’s Breast Cancer Research Center) • Operation Provider • Operation Gratitude (Deployed Military) • Operation Safe House • Rescue Mission • Ronald McDonald Houses/ Camps in Southern California • Second Harvest • Shelter from The Storm • A Touch of Home • USO Palm Springs • Fire & Rescue Agencies • Sherrif & Police Departments • National Guard

2010

2011

2012

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program

In Action

GSSGC I Care Packing Parties Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio have supported the military serving our country abroad through the USO and Operation Gratitude for many years. In 2012, we expanded our donations to include direct care package mailings to family service members of our girls. Through several I Care packing parties, Girl Scouts were able to show the spirit of sisterhood and giving. In total, 950 volunteers were able to express their thanks to our nation’s brave servicewomen and men and send them a taste of home. This hands-on experience allowed many Girl Scouts to give back directly and connect with others that are making a difference for this country. When asked at the packing event what our girls would say if they met a soldier in person, Sasha, 7, said, “I would say we really appreciate you and we’re happy that you’re keeping us safe.”

“And - thank you - for saving our country and God bless,” added Maiah, 10, sealing her ICare Package with care.

Not long after shipping the packages, the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council were honored by the USS Milius and her crew. An I Care shipment, lovingly packed with notes of thanks for the crewmen’s service written by hundreds of Girl Scouts and San Gorgonio Council families, arrived for the sailors at a particularly challenging point in their extended sea tour and the treats and notes immediately raised morale.

Kristin Freiberg and her daughter are members of the San Gorgonio Council and her husband, Lt. Freiberg, a chaplain on the USS Milius, helped facilitate the delivery. Since the average age of a sailor is only 18 or 19 years old, and many are deployed far from home with little or no contact from families, being uprooted is difficult and “ although people show them support, they don’t always understand what that’s like,” said Kristin. Kristin elaborated, “When they get a package and open it and know someone cares about them, it just means everything. To have that feeling of home.” Some 300 I Care boxes were packed for Lt. Freiberg’s ship, but only he and the Captain know about them. The rest of the crew were gratefully surprised to receive these tokens of love from the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council.

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program

Operation Gratitude Operation Gratitude annually sends 100,000+ care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions, to their children left behind, and to Veterans, First Responders, Wounded Warriors and their care givers. Their mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member’s face and express to our Armed Forces the appreciation and support of the American people.

Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio has partnered with Operation Gratitude for several years, continuing to increase donations yearly. Last year, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio made a national record breaking donation to Operation Gratitude thanks to the generosity of customers who contributed cookies to the I CARE Program.

On behalf of Operation Gratitude , I can attest that Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council has supported Operation Gratitude and the troops most generously over the years. In 2012, they donated 108,000 boxes of cookies, plus nuts and candies--half a million dollars worth of product in one year alone! In addition, the girls volunteered at our facility to help assemble thousands of care packages for our troops in harm’s way. This is an exceedingly generous and caring Council!

Carolyn Blashek, Operation Gratitude

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program

USO Palm Springs The Palm Springs Center also serves as the base of operations for USO outreach programs throughout the area. The USO depends on the generosity of the local community to fund their work. Without the charitable contributions in the Coachella Valley area, we would not be able to offer the variety of programs that help so many service members and their loved ones. Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council yearly supports and contributes to the USO through donations and girlpower. Last year along, GSSGC donated approximately 25,000 boxes of cookies.

I have been working with the Marines at 29 Palms and the USO for several years, a couple of years ago I was asked to help getting cookies shipped overseas to our guys and gals that wouldn’t get them otherwise. In a team effort and a wonderful Mail Call program, we’ve made this a success. Last year we delivered 25,050, spreading them out 18,000 were sent overseas, the rest were delivered between the Palm Springs USO, Wounded Warrior Program, The Navy Hospital and The Single Marine Program.

Amy Broich I have been helping the USO & the Girl Scouts for two years now… I personally buy a bunch of cookies as my family loves the thin mints, peanut butter patties, and caramel delights. And I take my truck to load hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies & I drive them on base… My children also help and we have been glad to help in the success of Operation Cookie Monster for the Troops!!! It is an Honor and a priviledge to be able to help those Men & Women who risk their lives in any way my family can… And we ALWAYS WILL!!! Thank you Girl Scouts for creating this wonderful program and Thank you to ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN IN ALL MILITARY BRANCHES ACROSS THE NATION AND THOSE OVER-SEAS WHO CANNOT BE WITH THEIR FAMILIES!!!

Ashley Gaona For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program

Public Safety Organizations Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio yearly donates approximately 5000 boxes of cookies to our local Fire, Sheriff and Police men and women. This year, in addition to our usual donations, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio donated around 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to over 308 sworn deputies and staff members of the Riverside Police Department, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Inland Division CHP, and SWAT teams, as well as firefighters of Mentone Fire Station of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Troops of Girl Scouts personally delivered the cookie bundles, lovingly packaged in brightly colored ribbons, pins and American flags, with handwritten thankyou notes to the police officers and fire fighters who were intimately involved in the deadly Christopher Dorner incident of February 2013. Girl Scouts and volunteers personally decorated the mailbox of the slain Riverside police officer, and his fellow law enforcement brothers, with cookies and cards so that fellow Riverside police would return to find a thank-you from the communities they serve.

Lori Mackey, administrative analyst at the Riverside Police Department’s Lincoln Station, helped facilitate the delivery. She said, “It was such a pleasure to have the girls visit us today. I know the officers are absolutely going to appreciate the surprise when they return.”

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org

GSSGC I Care Program Food Pantries and Shelters Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio has partnered with an evergrowing list of food pantries and shelters for many years. Organizations such as High Desert Homeless, Rescue Mission and Second Harvest are just a few that have received in the upwards of 8000 boxes of cookies to aid in their missions.

This year, GSSGC is pleased to welcome a new partner, Food Now. Food Now opened their doors 24 years ago, with the simple mission of feeding the hungry in the Desert Hot Springs area. Dana Johnson, Food Now’s Resource Development Manager, was at the recent cookie delivery. He said, “ We were just blessed with over 2,400 boxes of cookies today! We are so thankful and our customers are going to be ecstatic. Because we are a food pantry we rarely get treats like this, we can’t afford to buy them, so donations like this are a real blessing.” This delivery is only the first of many donations the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio will make this season. In March alone, GSSGC will donate an additional 2,500 boxes of cookies to the pantry, plus another 1,020 boxes for the Food Now El Paseo Bunny Hop Marathon. Dana added, “We could not accomplish this without generous donations from community partners. It’s entirely through individual people and organizations like the Girl Scouts that we are able to keep our doors open. We are so grateful that San Gorgonio Council thought of us.”

For more information, call (800) 400-4475 or visit www.gssgc.org