You might be asking yourself, “What is a Community Partner?”  A community partner is a community organization and/or business that offer Girl Scouts tours, workshops and/or other resources to support their Girl Scout Journey, badge work or service projects. For example; if a Girl Scout Senior wants to earn her Car Care badge, which includes basic car maintenance, vehicle safety, safe driving practices, emergency procedures and car efficiencies, she could visit AAA to talk with an expert or she could create a new community partner with a local repair shop and set up a recurring educational opportunity for all other Girl Scout Seniors to attend.

Four simple ways to find Girl Scouts of Western Ohio community partners:

1).Community Opportunity List A list located on our website that you can sort by region, topic and grade level at any time to best fit your needs!

2). Program Opportunities Book  An annual publication that contains community partners and council-Sponsored activities with a description of all of the activities they offer.

3). Service Unit meetings/emails/Facebook Make sure to attend your Service Unit meetings and join emails/Facebook groups to stay in the loop of community partners in your neighborhood.

4).The Troop! Troop leaders and parents are experts in your own community. We EMPOWER you to think outside of the box and ask the girls what activities they want to do most.  After a trip to the local Farmer’s Market, creatively link it back to the Daisy Flower Garden Journey by reviewing the Sample Sessions in the Facilitators Guide and you will see the girls have completed “Good Thoughts, Good Deeds, Garden Needs,” by doing something that they wanted to do: Visit the Farmer’s Market.

YOU have the ability to facilitate the activities that girls want to do and link them back to Girl Scouts, so get out there and get involved! Watch this quick video of an example of a great community partner event between Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma and The Oklahoma City Zoo!