Friday, May 3, 2024

Communication Information and Guidelines


Need to post about an event you are hosting? Want to send out an email reminder? Read through these guidelines to make it happen.  

Please be mindful that we are all volunteers and requests for information to be sent out immediately may not be possible. It is best to plan ahead :)  

All requests for blog posts, emails, and Facebook posts (for those without an accounts) should be sent to pima.neighborhood@gmail.com.

BLOG POST

In an email, send your blog post with the Who, What, When, and Where details
written as you would like it to appear. Do not send this information via Word document, text, jpg, or pdf because those do not allow for a cut and paste of the information.  

It is best to already have your sign up form completed so that the link can be included in the original blog post.  We generally use Google forms for sign ups.  Please add pima.neighborhood@gmail.com and pimamoneymanager@gmail.com as "editors" to any forms you create.

Be sure to include costs and how to pay. Reminder, troops must pay for all neighborhood events must be troop checks written out to Pima Neighborhood.  Individual families only may pay via Venmo for their own expenses only. Venmo details and physical addresses for individuals will NOT be published on the web.  It is best to look at old posts to see how this is handled.

Attach a jpg of any clipart you'd like to include and send request to pima.neighborhood@gmail.com. 

It is best to announce any neighborhood event at least two months in advance to ensure good attendance.  Experience also suggests that events discussed at the monthly leaders' meeting have better attendance.

EMAIL

The blog is our main vehicle to disseminate information. Our email account is nothing fancy and is monitored by a single individual with no ability for recipients to "unsubscribe." Many individuals are sensitive to the number of emails they receive and, although we may not view our email as "junk," recipients often do not feel the same way.  Additionally, Gmail also considers the account a nuisance if we send out too many group emails in a short period of time and flags the account if that happens, shutting it down for a period of time.


For this reason, we almost always used eBudde ONLY to convey information to leaders and cookie managers about the cookie sale. Please do not turn off your notification settings in eBudde since you will be cutting off your only avenue for important information.  Cookie email requests will always be re-directed back to eBudde.


Within these parameters, the neighborhood strives to send no more that two to three emails a month, including a monthly meeting agenda with a summary of "what's happening" and otherwise only for urgent information.  We do our best to combine information; therefore the email list is not to be used for "reminders" unless absolutely necessary.  Once an event is off the ground, please use the participant list to target those attending.

If you believe an email is necessary, please write the email you want sent, complete with your contact information.  Do not send an email that says "please send an email" without providing the text you want sent out. Doing this prevents misunderstandings about the information you wish to convey and saves time. An email asking for an email without the text you wish to send will simply generate a response to provide the text.

FACEBOOK

Everyone does not have a Facebook account but many do so do not count this avenue out as a way to disseminate information.  The account is private and once you are a member you can post information.  Please be mindful that the site is to be used only to share information about Girl Scouts but otherwise, you are free to post as you please.

If you do NOT have Facebook account, you can send a request for your information to be posted to pima.neighborhood@gmail.com. Do not send pdfs.  They cannot be posted.  If you have a graphic to post, it must be sent as a jpeg. Otherwise, follow the same guidelines as with an email and send the text and contact information you wish to have posted.

OTHER COMMUNICATION OPTIONS

Finally, the service team continually reviews our communications options.  Group sites like Rallyhood are only as good as individuals' willingness to use the platform. Repeatedly, we have been told that another app is not the answer so until we find a better route that everyone is willing to use, these are the chosen routes.  You are welcome to suggest other solutions and also to advertise your event through any means, but experience suggests these three routes are best.

Send questions to pima.neighborhood@gmail.com

Friday, March 29, 2024

Early Registration


Early Registration for 2024-2025 starts on April 1.  Here are the incentives available;

Incentives to Troops 

Register your troop by April 15

Any troop who registers at least five girls and two adults by April 15 will be entered into a drawing for a MY25 Cookie Kit which includes a wagon, yard signs, table, tablecloth, Girl Scout branded canopy, and a feather flag sign. 20 winners will be selected.

Register from April 1 to April 30

  • Exclusive Cookie Booth Round for the 2025 season
  • Renew at least five girls and two adults to be eligible. 

Register from April 1 - May 30*

  • Receive up to four free troop leader membership renewals.  
  • Troops with 5-9 girls – two troop leader registration fees paid.
  • Troops with 10-15 girls – three troop leader registration fees paid.
  • Troops with 16+ girls – four troop leader registration fees paid. 

*To take advantage of this offer, Renew the girls in your troop by April 30 (Do not renew the leaders who will be registered for free), and submit this brief form to tell us which leaders you would like us to renew. 

Register from April 1 – June 30

  • Receive the 2025 Early Registration Patch. 

Incentives to Service Units

Service Units that renew 60% or higher will receive 50% off their 2024 encampment fees (percentage off is limited to building reservations only). 


2024-2025 Leader Meeting Dates

Please mark the following dates on your calendar now for our leader meetings next year.  ANY adult
volunteer is welcome to attend these meetings. 

Please  alert your cookie managers about the November 4th training dates.  We encourage everyone who will be involved in cookie management to attend.

Meetings will once again be held at the Boys and Girls Club at 10 am and 7 pm. The evening meeting will be followed by a social hour, starting at 8:15 pm, generally at Goldies.

The Boys and Girls club is located at 10515 E. Lakeview Drive, Scottsdale AZ 85258.  

  • August 12
  • September 9
  • October 14
  • November 4  **Cookie Training 10:00-11:30 a.m. and 6:30-8:00 p.m.**
  • December 9
  • January 13
  • February 3
  • March 3
  • April 7 (6:30. Leader's gala evening only, no morning meeting) 
  • May 5

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

2024-2025 Calendar

TENTATIVE 2024-2025 Calendar

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
Recruitment Event: Pool Party
Recruitment Event: Ice Skating
Recruitment Event: Badge Workshop
Recruitment Event: Ice Cream Social

SEPTEMBER
Recommended Troop Activity: Ballet Under the Stars
 
OCTOBER
October 18-20, Encampment, Willow Springs

NOVEMBER
Recommended Troop Activity: ASU Earth and Space Exploration Day
November 2 (tentative), Juliette Low Birthday Party
November 4, Cookie Training

DECEMBER
Recommended Troop Activity: Hike Pinnacle Peak (holiday story usually can be found along the trail during the month of December)
December 4 or 11, Leader's Holiday Social

JANUARY
Cookie Rally
January 18 or 19, Cookie Delivery
January 20, Cookie Sales Begin

FEBRUARY
February 23, Thinking Day

MARCH
Recommended Troop Activity: McDowell Sonoran Preserve Family Day

APRIL
April 7, Leader's Gala

MAY
May 7, Older Girl Bridging

June
Day Camp

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Service Project: Toys for Animal Shelters


Date:
April 7, 2024, 1-3 pm

Cost: Cost is $5 per girl and includes a patch. Please send individual girl payments via Venmo to Pima/Diana or for troop payments, please write a troop check payable to Pima Neighborhood and mail it to her by April 2nd.

Please sign up here

Location: Scottsdale Ranch Park, Ramada 10

Description: We will be making fleece blankets, dog and cat toys to donate to animal shelters and learn about the importance of spaying/neutering.

PuppyLuv will be bringing puppies to this event!


We will be collecting items for animal shelters at this event. 

-Old sheets and towels

-Costco puppy food

-Diamond puppy food

-Puppy pads

-Royal Canine Feline / kitten canned food

-Purina Fancy Feast Wet Kitten food

-Bounty paper towels

-Clorox wipes

-Disposable gloves

-Sandwich and gallon baggies

-Poop disposal bags

-Pill pockets

-Trash bags

-Gerber baby food chicken or turkey

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Vista del Camino Food Drive


We are collecting any non-perishable foods to be donated to the Vista Del Camino Food Bank

Date: May 5-12, 2024

Drop-Off Location: Diana’s House

There will be a box located out front where you can place any non-perishable food items you would like to donate.


Any food donations can be dropped off at Diana's House on one of those days or you can bring your donations with you to the Community Service Day on May 11! 


The food bank is in dire need of cans of soup as well as jars of jelly. 


Email: pima.neighborhood@gmail.com

Community Service Day


Date: May 11, 2024, 1-3 pm

Cost: Cost is $5 per girl and includes a patch. Please send individual girl/family payments via Venmo to Pima/Diana or for troop payments, write a troop check payable to Pima Neighborhood and mail it to her by May 1.

Please fill out this form to sign up

If you are in 6-12th grade I would love your help running stations so please fill out this form instead.

Location: Scottsdale Ranch Park, Ramada 9

Description: We will have a variety of fun community service projects set up in the park. All ages are welcome and encouraged to participate. Just walk around from booth to booth and do each fun activity to help out our community.

It would also be a great help if everyone brought non-perishable foods to donate to our Vista Del Camino food drive.

If you will not be able to make it to the event we would still love your food donations. The Vista Del Camino Food Drive will run from May 5-12, drop off at Diana’s House.

Questions? Email pima.neighborhood@gmail.com