Hurricane Kits
Download the Hurricane Kit Worksheets | Request a Hurricane Kit
As part of the project, each Girl Scout wrote up a section review for our website.
Enjoy reading about the process below!
>>>>>>Watch News Channel 6’s segment on our project!
What is the Bronze Award?
The Bronze award is the third highest award in Girl Scouts of the USA. It was introduced by GSUSA in 2001, and can only be earned by Girl Scouts who are Juniors. To earn a Bronze Award, some of the requirements are that you are in fourth or fifth grade, are registered as a Girl Scout with a local council, and have completed at least one Junior Journey. To earn the Bronze Award, you also have to explore your community, create a project with your troop that solves a problem and work on that project as a troop.
As a troop, we decided to create hurricane kits for kids new to Florida, and worked on that project over the past months, spending more than 20 hours each as a troop. We were also encouraged to spread the word, and ask other adults and organizations to support our cause by donating materials, supplies or money to support the troop’s project. As a troop, we were able to collect a lot of things like tote bags, gift cards, crayons, coloring sheets, flashlights, food and water bottles that make up our hurricane kits.
We were so excited to complete our project, and celebrated by writing and sending thank you notes to all the people who helped the troop with donations and supplies for our project. I learned that working towards the Bronze Awards takes a lot of work, focus and teamwork. I feel really proud of our troop.
~London, age 10
Brainstorming began at our December meeting
Each girl began on their own to identify where our help was needed and came together to present the ideas a this meeting. We noticed new classmates were worried and confused in 2022 when Hurricane Ian hit, and realized our new friends didn’t know how to prepare for a hurricane. We decided to make hurricane prep kits for elementary-aged children who are new to Florida as our Bronze project. With so many people new to Florida, we wanted to inform kids and have them be prepared, and give them tasks before and after the hurricane. ~Liliana, age 9
Project Timeline: January
After we decided to make hurricane kits, we had our first official brainstorm meeting where we came up with the following:
- Target audience: elementary school kids who are new to Florida [ ages 6 – 12 ]
- what supplies we should try to get for the kits and assignments
- what fact/activity/coloring sheets we needed to make and who was responsible for each. Each page in our workbook (see below or in the kit), was designed or researched by a Girl Scout!
~ Alexis, age 9
Project Timeline: February
At our February meeting, we practiced how to tell businesses about our project and ask if they’d like to contribute to our project. I learned to tell them all about what we were trying to do and how many hurricane kits we wanted to make. I was a little worried I would be scared, but felt better after we practiced. We also reviewed our hurricane facts and our activity worksheets we developed. ~Saylor, age 9
Visiting with our Subject Matter Expert: February 19
All of our meetings are fun, but some meetings are cooler than others. On February 19, 2023, our troop had a Bronze Award meeting at Channel 6! Meteorologist Samara Cokinos taught us all about how hurricanes develop from tropical waves up to hurricanes. Everything we learned helped us with our project, plus Channel 6 is a really interesting place to see. We had a great visit! ~Madelyn, age 9
Project Timeline: March
In our March meeting we discussed our inventory, or supplies. Our inventory included donations from local businesses, such as soft comfort items, flashlights, food items, folders for the fun worksheets we made, crayons, pens, and hand sanitizers. We listed each item out and counted them. We needed to make sure we had enough items for each kit and enough room for additional donations. Each kit would be bundled in a tote bag. Then, we made a test kit to make sure everything fit inside the tote bag. It was difficult to get everything organized, but amazing to see what we could accomplish together with community businesses!
At this meeting, we also brainstormed about the design of our patch. We wanted a patch for future Girl Scouts to earn. We each designed a patch and then voted on the common elements that we wanted on the final patch. These requests will be given to a patch designer.
~ Sophia, age 10
Project Timeline: April
It was finally time to put together our hurricane kits with our donated supplies! We met up with News Channel 6 and they recorded us putting together the kits. They even interviewed me and some of my friends. How we put the kits together: we laid out all our donations and we went around each table putting the donations into tote bags. When we were done and put in one of each item, we pulled out our checklists and made sure all the kits had one of each item.
Thank you, we hope you enjoy them, and stay safe! ~Lily, age 10
Project Timeline: May and June
In May, the girls wrapped up the website and we submitted paperwork to Citrus Council for approval.
On June 1, the Troop got together at Flippers in Windermere for a watch party to see the hurricane special on TV. They were so excited and the community sent us many well wishes.
>>> Watch Troop 2059 on the news here.
On June 7, in Savannah, Georgia at the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Lowe, the founder of Girl Scouts, Troop 2059 received their Bronze Award pins.
Download the Kit Worksheets
As part of the project, we developed fact sheets, coloring pages and activities. These are in the folders in the kits, but you can download the PDFs here as well.
>>Download the Kit Worksheets here
If you’re a Girl Scout troop wanting to make hurricane kits for a Take Action Project, you are welcome to use aspects of our kit and also to customize to your particular area of the country. A custom patch is forthcoming that our troop is working with a vendor on.
Request a Hurricane Kit
If your family is new to Florida and you would like one of our hurricane kits (only 50; supplies limited), please text Team Titan Realty Group to schedule your hurricane kit delivery at (321) 695-6953.
Are you a Girl Scout Troop needing a Take Action project?
We would love to see you continue what we started! Include our hurricane worksheets in your kits and make your own kits as a take action project! A custom fun patch is forthcoming from Mad About Patches and we will post that info soon.
Thank you to our vendors/partners
Thank you to these community partners who donated supplies or knowledge to our kits or helped along the way!
- News Channel 6 Meteorologist Samara Cokinos
- Aldi (Winter Garden)
- Beth’s Burger Bar
- CFW, Charleston, SC
- Cigna
- Flippers Windermere
- Girl Scouts of Citrus Council
- Heart of the Magic Travel
- The Orlando Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.
- Kissimmee Florist
- Lowe’s (Winter Garden)
- Mace Consulting
- Maple Street Biscuit Company Orlando
- Olive Garden (Millenia Mall)
- Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
- Publix The Grove
- Publix West Point Commons
- SeaWorld Orlando
- Staples (Winter Garden)
- State Farm (Bill Pancake Insurance Agency)
- Titan Realty Group, LLC
- TOHO Water Authority
- Truist (Winter Garden Village)
- Vitamin Therapy Services
Additional Resources
- Hurricane Facts for Kids video
- Disaster Dodgers: Severe Weather video
- https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/top-10-facts/top-10-facts-about-hurricanes/
- Hurricane Preparedness for Children video
- https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/pet-disaster-preparedness
- https://www.duke-energy.com/safety-and-preparedness/storm-safety/after-the-storm
- https://www.floridadisaster.org/hazards/floods/