My troop is based at my Catholic parish in suburban New Orleans. Our parish is blessed with long-term committed Girl Scout leaders who did not leave the program when their daughters did so we know we can commit to having troops at every level. Every year we go into the parish school and the neighborhood public school to speak to the girls and to invite them to a recruitment meeting. We also send flyers home inviting the girls and their parents to the meeting. Since we meet in the evening, we are open to girls from any school.
At our recruitment night we picked up five new girls for the Brownie troop, in addition to the girls who were first grade Daisies last year. Two more new girls came to our first meeting. Our council's membership person knows we will take anyone they send to us, so I suspect I'll end up with a few more girls before the year is over.
If you are going to start a troop you need a place to meet, girls and a co-leader. If you are doing this for your daughter, her best friend's mom is a good starting place for a co-leader. As far as meeting places, try your school, your church, a community center or playground or stores that offer classes. I was in JoAnn's fabric shop and mentioned that I was buying for Girl Scouts (some businesses will give discounts) and was asked if I wanted to use their classroom for a meeting place. In my experience, if you are able to meet at school after school, you will have the most participation from the girls, but will have a hard time getting help because so many parents work. Also, you will lose the girls when they leave that school. If you are trying to build a long-term program where girls can move from level to level, a church or community center makes a better base of operations.
