Earned Awards & Scholarships
Earned Awards
Service Bars
Community Service Bars can be earned by Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors. This bar recognizes at least 20 hours of service to an organization outside of Girl Scouting.
Service to Girl Scouting Bars can be earned by Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors. This bar recognizes at least 20 hours of service to Girl Scouting, such as helping with a younger Troop, volunteering at a Council event or Service Unit Camporee.
Specific requirements can be found in your Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting.
Questions? Contact our Award Specialist.
President's Volunteer Service Award
Any individual, family, or group can receive Presidential recognition for volunteer hours earned over a 12-month period or over the course of a lifetime. Refer to the President’s Volunteer Service Award website for more information.
Submit the President’s Volunteer Service Award Application Form to GSSA to apply for this award. Awards are ordered twice yearly, in May and October. Applications received after May 1 or October 1 will be held for the next batch order.
My Promise, My Faith
The Girl Scout My Promise, My Faith pin invites girls in grades K-12 to experience a faith journey through exploration of the Girl Scout Law and teachings from their faith. Girls can earn this national pin each year.
National Lifesaving Awards
The 1913 handbook, How Girls Can Help Their Country, lists two medals girls could earn for meritorious deeds related to saving a life.
Today, girls continue to earn Lifesaving Awards: the Bronze Cross, given for saving life or attempting to save life with risk to the candidate’s own life; and the Medal of Honor, given for saving life or attempting to save life without risk to the candidate’s own life.
Click here for the application. The application must be downloaded with 60 days of the lifesaving incident. Applications must be approved by the council and submitted to GSUSA no later than 6 months after the lifesaving incident.
Scholarships
Congratulations! You’ve worked hard as a Girl Scout by building marketable skills like teamwork and leadership, collecting community service hours and earning awards like the Girl Scout Silver Award or Girl Scout Gold Award. Although it can seem overwhelming, all of this hard work is going to pay off when it comes time for college applications and scholarships. In order to make this process easier, we’ve collected a list of scholarships and resources to help make your college dreams an affordable reality.
Thanks to the generosity of donors in southern Alabama, our council has scholarships available for award to graduating Girl Scout Ambassadors. Applications are accepted for GSSA scholarships from February 1 – April 1, 2026.
The GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship will open March 13 and close April 14, 2026.
The Lucretia Hollingsworth Scholarship 
The Ellen Autrey Anderson Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship
The Young Leaders Lifetime Membership Award
The Girl Scouts of the USA Gold Award Scholarship
Volunteer Awards
Because volunteers contribute their time and skills in many ways, there are several Adult Awards that are available to recognize their efforts.
Council Awards
We have so many wonderful volunteers who deserve special recognition! Council Awards are approved by the Adult Awards Committee. These awards are presented at the In Your Honor Award Ceremony in the Spring.
Council Awards (with the exception of the Volunteer Years of Service Pin) require a simple nomination form and 2 to 4 endorsements. All nomination and endorsement forms must be submitted to awards@girlscoutssa.org. The nomination deadline is August 31, 2026.
Volunteer Service Pin
The Volunteer Years of Service Pin recognizes an Adult Girl Scout for years of active volunteer service at five-year intervals. Volunteers are asked to self-report in order to receive this recognition.
Appreciation Pin
The Appreciation Pin recognizes an individual's exemplary service in support of delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), which has had measurable impact on one geographic area of service, allowing the council to reach and surpass its mission-delivery goals. (2 endorsements)
Honor Pin
The Honor Pin recognizes an individual's exemplary service in support of delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), which has had measurable impact on two or more geographic areas of service, allowing the council to reach and surpass its mission-delivery goals. (3 endorsements)
Thanks Badge
The Thanks Badge honors an individual whose ongoing commitment, leadership, and service have had an exceptional, measurable impact on meeting the mission-delivery goals and priorities of the entire council or the entire Girl Scout Movement. (4 endorsements)
Thanks Badge II
The Thanks Badge II honors a previous Thanks Badge recipient who has continued to provide exemplary service in a leadership role, resulting in a measurable impact that benefits the entire Girl Scout Movement. (4 endorsements)
Service Unit Awards
Service Units also present awards to volunteers. Most are signed by a Service Unit Team member and approved by the Adult Awards Committee. All nomination and endorsement forms must be submitted to awards@girlscoutssa.org by August 31, 2026.
Volunteer of Excellence
The Volunteer of Excellence Award Pin recognizes those volunteers who have contributed outstanding service while partnering directly with girls in any pathway to implement the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE) through use of the National Program Portfolio or who have contributed outstanding service in support of the council's mission delivery to girl and adult members. (2 endorsements)
Let's Celebrate
When Girl Scouts earn their Gold, Silver or Bronze award they'll be invited to celebrate at In Your Honor.
LEARN MOREQuestions? Please contact our Community Development and Awards Manager, awards@girlscoutss.org
For additional scholarships and awards for Girl Scouts, check out the GSUSA Scholarship webpage. You’ll find a great scholarship search tool, free access to CollegeLab for Girl Scouts, and more.
