The Girl Scout Gold Award is a national award, a personal challenge and the highest award that a Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador may choose to pursue.
This year, 22 Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (GSEM) received their Gold Awards at the annual Reflections ceremony, which took place at Maritz® in Fenton on June 2.
Earning The Girl Scout Gold Award requires a suggested 80 hours of planning and implementing a challenging, large-scale project that is innovative, engages others and has a lasting impact on its targeted community with an emphasis on sustainability.
Since 1916, the Girl Scout Gold Award has represented excellence and leadership for girls everywhere. Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award puts winners among an exceptional group of women who have used their knowledge and leadership skills to make a difference in the world (less than one percent of all Girl Scouts earn the Girl Scout Gold Award).
Below is an excerpt from a local Girl Scout about her Gold Award project:
Hollis Wright
Hollis wanted to make an impact on the elderly who live in low-income nursing homes. She called various nursing homes in the area and found that blankets are high-need items, particularly by Medicaid residents.
This inspired her Gold Award project, Gotcha Covered, by donations via emails, phone calls and text messages.
After she collected the blankets, she hosted a “sew around,” where young volunteers like her gathered and she taught them how to sew straight seams. Thirty-five lap blankets were later donated to various nursing homes in St. Louis County.