Their smiles, their adorable little outfits, their delicious cookies, their pledge to “be ready to help out wherever they are needed”—what’s not to love about Girl Scouts? For the 200 million boxes of cookies, they bring right to our doors every year alone, they deserve their own holiday. Not to mention all of the other good they have done!

History of Girl Scout Day

Girl Scouts came into existence in 1912 when a woman named Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low organized the first-ever Girl Scout meeting in Savannah, Georgia, with just 18 girls from the surrounding area. Low had spent considerable time thinking about what could be done to help young women get outdoors and become more independent, self-reliant, and resourceful so they could become better citizens in the future.

From the very beginning, the Girl Scouts have been an organization run by women, for women, and over a hundred years after its creation, it has grown to 3.7 million members worldwide. It has been estimated that, since its inception, 50 million girls and women have been members of the organization. Membership is organized by age, and there are different activities available at each level, all suited to the individual needs of each age group.

The Girl Scouts is an organization for American girls and American girls living abroad, traditionally ages 5 to 18. Girl Scouts typically meet in groups called a troop, with the troops being run by volunteers, who are often parents of troop members. This makes the Girl Scouts a very close-knit organization. Girl Scout Day has celebrated on the date that Low organized the first Girl Scout meeting, on March 12th.