We don’t wear party dresses.

You won’t see us in the high-society magazines.

Most of us could never afford that $500 or $200 or, hell, even a $100 ticket to a sparkly, champagne-laden fund-raising event.

No, we are the women in the trenches. We sport broken nails, paint-spattered arms, sore muscles.

We wear jeans, not sequined party frocks that cost as much as that donation we’re making to some charity or the other.

Makeup? Who has time?

And if we do have time? It comes from Walgreen’s. Not a cosmetics counter.

Some of us are single moms. Some of us work two jobs, just to get by. Some of us spend every weekend teaching and embracing and loving YOUR children.

Some of us suffer from chronic illnesses, like lupus.

Still, we plan, we work, we cherish every triumph.

We are the women who are teaching your girls how to be strong. How to be leaders. How to defy stereotypes and redefine the role of women in today’s society.

We are 3.2 million strong. Among our ranks:

The first female war correspondent. Two astronauts. Journalists. Singers. Athletes.

We are Girl Scouts.

We get our hands dirty.

We wear jeans. And sneakers.

We like going incognito.

We clean cemeteries and investigate and document the lives of those buried in these old, forgotten graveyards. We work in community gardens, organize bedding drives for homeless children.

We take care of our senior citizens. Our soldiers.

We recognize unsung heroes because we understand what it is to work and not be recognized.

So no, you will not see us at galas or balls or sweetheart dances.

Our daughters will never be debutantes. Because the work they do? Well, it’s not recognized in social circles.

But we are so proud of them.

You won’t see our pictures in high-society mags.

You won’t hear about the things we do or see the things we see.

But our mark? Its imprint is deep.

And our girls? They are tomorrow’s leaders.

And us?

We are the ones teaching them to be leaders.

Because we know a true leader does not need public recognition or praise or a glossy photo to prove her value.

We know that anonymous sacrifice and offerings are far more precious, far more gratifying than acts that are spoken of publicly.

We believe in what we do because we see the results every day.

We believe in the girls of tomorrow.

We believe in grubby clothes and dirty fingernails.

We believe in getting things done.

We are Girl Scouts.

And we are proud.