Girl Scouts of the USA Announces Partnership with American Red Cross

NEW YORK, June 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) announced today a new partnership with the American Red Cross to offer Girl Scouts across the country access to a range of preparedness training courses in a nationally standardized agreement.

"Girl Scouting is about teaching girls to be leaders in their lives and in their communities, a goal in keeping with the mission of the Red Cross to save lives by teaching ordinary citizens to be leaders when disaster strikes," said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of GSUSA. "I look forward to working together with Gail McGovern, American Red Cross President and CEO, on a partnership to create a stronger resource of girls and adults who can help service our communities across the country when they need it most."

The partnership provides Girl Scouts' 112 councils across the country with a national framework of reduced rates for an expanded range of trainings courses. In addition to core trainings such as CPR and First Aid, Girl Scouts will have the same access to trainings for Water Safety and Rescue, Lifeguarding, Wilderness and Remote First Aid, Babysitting, and more. The same courses will be available to adult volunteers and to girls, on an age-appropriate basis. 

The agreement provides Girl Scout councils with the option of either full-service trainings directly from the Red Cross, or to have staff and/or volunteers trained to become trainers themselves. Benefits of the agreement include pre-negotiated rates as well as local Red Cross contacts for Girl Scouts to work with to meet the different community needs.  

This partnership maximizes the nationally-scaled resources of the two organizations, and continues to build on Girl Scouts' goal of providing consistent quality of service to girls and communities nationwide.

About Girl Scouts of the USA
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls, with 3.2 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girl Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries. For more information on how to join, volunteer or reconnect with, or donate to Girl Scouts, call 800-GSUSA-4-U or visit us at www.girlscouts.org or on Twitter at @girlscouts.

SOURCE Girl Scouts of the USA