Gold Award Recipients
We have many outstanding girls who earn the Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Awards. These projects are outstanding on their own and although it is not required, many of the girls who earned the Gold Award, first earned the Bronze and Silver awards. Only Girl Scouts in 9th through 12th grade can pursue a Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn.
We are proud to present Dunwoody's Gold Award Recipients and their projects:
2009
|
Catherine Black |
Catharine was
troubled by the waste she saw in restaurants that disposed of children's
crayons after only one use. She designed a recycling program for
several Dunwoody area family restaurants, monitored their donations, and
collected over 80 pounds of used crayons. She recycled them by melting
crayon bits into large, colorful shapes that were easy to handle by small
hands and by children who had motor control issues. She donated over 100
sets of recycled big crayons to Children’s Healthcare at Scottish Rite as
well as to orphanages in |
| Sarah Brannon |
Sarah realized that
at her large Norcross church, there was a troubling gap in participation
between middle school and high school age groups. Sarah began a mentoring
program that paired high school girls with middle school girls, organized
activities to help the two groups get to know each other, and encouraged the
middle school girls to continue their participation in high school
programming. Over the course of the year, the high school participants were
provided with mentoring tips and small group discussion on leadership ideas
to encourage interest in the younger groups and give the younger groups a
window on opportunities for service and leadership at the older age levels.
She led the high school participants in designing and producing activities
to foster greater familiarity between the middle-schoolers and high-schoolers,
with the aim of establishing a higher degree of familiarity and comfort for
those making the transition to high school. |
| Morgan Coffey |
Morgan discovered a need in the community for support of victims of domestic violence. She determined that, in cases of abuse, victims often have to surrender their clothing for evidence, and as a result, often do not have a change of clothing to wear home from the hospital. She assembled over 200 "Change In A Bag" sets of clothing, where each bag was a complete set of clothing and undergarments, as well as a pair of flip flops, to give victims dignity and practical assistance. To further her drive
for providing practical help, she identified a need for Morgan has turned her
passion for helping victims of domestic violence into a non-profit
organization, Stronghold Atlanta. |
| Ashley Newman |
Ashley worked with the Atlanta Day shelter and collected donations of toys, cakes, food and decorations to hold a monthly birthday party for the women and children who are helped by the shelter. |
| Katherine Patton |
Kathy helped an underprivileged school in Russellville, Alabama collect books for their library. |
Here is are links to: Girl Scout Council's press release, Champion Newspaper article and Dunwoody Crier's coverage of these projects.
2008
| Lindsay Bever | For my Gold Award project, I sent care packages to soldiers overseas. I wanted to send them comfort items such as toiletries, card games, candy, CDs, and other items that would not normally be issued to them. I worked with Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization that provides aid to both soldiers and their families back home, who gave me addresses of various soldiers. I then organized a car wash to raise money for supplies as well as shipping costs. After I visited Sunday School classes to inform them of my project, members of my church donated supplies for the care packages. Using the money from my car wash, I bought any extra supplies needed for each box. I was able to send 17 complete care packages, each enclosed with a personal letter. About a month later, three soldiers wrote back to me expressing their gratitude. Overall, I was humbled by this project and want to continue supporting our troops in any way. |
| Sarah Hibbard | My Gold Award addresses the issue of hunger in our area. I was able to do my project through my church, Mount Vernon Presbyterian, which is in the city of Sandy Springs. I recruited church members to make monthly trips which I organized to the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB). At the ACFB, we were one of several organizations which volunteer in the Product Rescue Center (PRC). At the PRC you either unpack, inspect, or weigh the different boxes of food that come in and out of the Food Bank. I also organized a dinner that was served to the needy of Sandy Springs. This dinner was financed completely from donations from my church and Publix shoppers. We handed out flyers the morning of the dinner to the needy in the Sandy Springs area. They were very appreciative and that evening we saw some of those same people there and more. The dinner consisted of spaghetti and meatballs with sauce, green beans, bread, and cookies. There were also several coolers of lemonade and because it was getting close to the holidays I also included mini candy-canes! The dinner was very successful and Fox 5 even televised some of the prep work for the dinner. |
| Katie Horigan |
For my Girl Scout Gold Award project, I
collected donations for the Stand Up for Kids organization to help fight
against teenage homelessness. Starting my project in September, I began by
having a car wash and collecting donations for my project. Next, I passed
out flyers around my neighborhood asking for new or gently used teen
clothing, toiletries, and individual sized foods. I collected and sorted
through all the donations and then went to Costco to purchase more individual sized foods, I made food packages for the teens which consisted of one of each food/drink item. After I finished sorting and collecting, I dropped off the two carloads full of donations. Later, I planned and hosted a Valentine's Day party for the teens at the shelter. The party was a success and I hoped the teens enjoyed the party as well. My project put an entire new perspective on homeless teens and I can only hope that I helped at least one teen and eased their current situation of struggle. |
|
Claire Rozeman |
My Gold Award project was done during the winter holiday season of 2007. Through Dunwoody United Methodist Church (DUMC), I was introduced to a community support program at the Norcross Cooperative Ministries (NCM). My project involved helping with their holiday toy and gift drive. The primary activity of the project was the collection of new toys and gifts to be distributed through the NCM. Over 200 toys were collected from DUMC members, neighbors, and fellow Girl Scout troops and were distributed to over 50 families in the Norcross area. The second portion of my project was the “first time” creation of a children’s activity table at the Community Action Center’s Christmas Shop in December. The purpose was to provide activities for children while their parents shopped for presents. Completing the requirements for the Gold Award was a wonderful experience. It gave me the opportunity to work with organizations that allowed me to really get involved in supporting our community. The planning and leadership skills I learned in Girl Scouts gave me the base I needed to give back in a meaningful way. |
Past Gold Award projects were compiled for the website and in a notebook which
is in the permanent collection of the Dunwoody Service Unit Library, by M.
Miller and M. Miller who said, "It is our hope that by reading about these
projects that girls will be educated about these projects and more girls will be
inspired to undertake great projects of their own.