That love for reading is why Gwen knew she wanted to help when her troop leader mentioned the Newport Public Library was reopening. At the time, Gwen was considering what to do for her Girl Scout Gold Award project and helping a library was a perfect fit.

Newport Public Library, housed in a historic building in Washington County, closed in 2011 due to budget cuts. In 2012, the city of Newport took over the management of the library in order to keep it open. Gwen reached out to library staff and the city to learn how she could help. She then organized 25 volunteers to make updates to the library.

Inside the building, Gwen and her volunteers created an art cart and kid-friendly displays. Outside, they installed new landscaping, birdhouses and a picnic table. While they were working, curious onlookers jumped in to help. “There were actually people coming out of their houses wondering what was going on,” Gwen reported, “and then they helped to plant shrubs.”

Bailey Nurseries donated all of the shrubbery and plants and the city supplied additional materials for the project. In the future, the new landscaping will be maintained by library staff and volunteers, but last summer was very dry, so Gwen and her team returned to water all the new plants.

After the Silver and Gold Award Recognition Ceremony this spring, Gwen drove past the library to see the results of their hard work. “All of the plants survived the winter,” she said. “They look really good. It shows that people in the community really care about the history. And there are a lot of kids that go there, so it’s really nice to see.”

Earn your Girl Scout Hiker Badge, which teaches you how to prepare for a hike. From learning which important items to pack to discovering what kinds of snacks are best for hiking trips, this badge activity is a great opportunity for your troop to enjoy nature and work as a team.

Learn more about the Girl Scout Hiker Badge and other outdoor awareness activities.

Swimming on the other hand is a different story. Lexi can swim as much as she wants because it’s minimal impact exercise that causes her much less pain than other activities. In high school, she joined the Eden Prairie swim and dive team and the synchronized swimming team. She loved the water, and swimming became a true passion.

That passion turned out to be a great starting point for Lexi’s Girl Scout Gold Award project last year. Around the same time she was considering what to do for her project, she met Debbie Townsend, head coach for the Clownfish Swim Club, an organization that provides a swim team environment for kids with disabilities. With Debbie’s encouragement, Lexi began volunteering with Clownfish, and that’s when things started to click in her mind. “I could relate to how much the water is such a healer, and that’s kind of when I was like, oh my goodness, I can relate to these kids. They love to swim. I love to swim. And I think that this is a really cool opportunity for me to come in and work on my Gold Award.”

To complete her Gold Award project, Lexi took action by supporting the Clownfish Swim Club in three different ways. She created a brochure to recruit volunteers, a function that in the past was mainly done by word-of-mouth. She also created ten different lesson plans that will be used by volunteer coaches. And finally, she organized a Swim-A-Thon to collect new and gently used swimming equipment for the club.

To hold the Swim-A-Thon, Lexi rented out Eden Prairie Community Center’s pool for a Saturday afternoon. People could swim with their family or swim laps and enjoy the pool after making a donation. The event was a big success; about 100 people attended and a variety of equipment such as float belts, goggles, nose clips and swimsuits was collected for the Clownfish Swim Club.

Lexi says the best part about doing her Gold Award project was being able to work on something she was passionate about and making a difference in other kids’ lives. “It was really, really cool to see how a weakness of mine and a painful experience of mine—I kind of flipped it around and drove it into a passion, and helped kids who are going through the same thing I am. Now they can also continue to have the joy that water can bring, and they can do it in a safe way.”

Shanasi Bagnariol-Shafer

In addition to serving as a delegate and recruiter for the Mid du Lac service unit, Shanasi is also the Lakamaga Conference committee vice chair. This is her second year working on the event and she believes staying organized, meeting deadlines and maintaining a positive attitude are all critical to her role. “I’m excited by the ideas I get to be a part of and seeing the conference come to life,” Shanasi said.

Debbie Grimmer

For six years, Debbie has served on the Lakamaga Conference committee in a leadership position. “I love the team I have been a part of and enjoy meeting all the new people,” she said. As chair, Debbie plans and leads two-hour, monthly meetings and ensures everything is on schedule. She’s also a delegate, the organizer of the service unit manager group called Order of the Trefoils and the Woodbury service unit manager.

Charmin Pelletier

Charmin is from the Centennial service unit and has been part of the Lakamaga Conference committee for eight years. Her favorite thing about handling accommodations (lodging, welcome ceremonies) is making people feel special, particularly new attendees. Charmin also looks forward to camping, meeting new people and seeing old friends each year.

Karla Wakefield 

As the transportation lead for the Lakamaga Conference committee for the past several years, Karla is constantly on the go, transporting people to and from their classes and sleeping areas, or delivering supplies to different parts of camp. “I get to meet a lot of people during the conference,” she said. Karla is from the Kinni Croix Valley service unit and enjoys seeing old friends and the delicious meals. 

Amy Jones, Sharon Blackie, Sheila Ambrose, Andrea Koukol, Don Lee, Lori LeVasseur, Jan Pluff, Sharon Reece, Terri Siebert, Caroline Thompson, Karla Wakefield, Deb Walstrom-Riske, Emily White and Sandi Wintz also serve on the committee. Bert Jones designed the theme artwork, T-Shirt and patch.

The 10 percent discount will be valid until September 30, 2013, may be applied to the entire in-store purchase and can be used by a troop only once. No printed coupon is necessary—shop staff will verify qualified troops at purchase time.

Register your troop online now.

To receive the Girl Scout Gold and Silver Awards, girls spend hours planning and implementing projects that innovatively address a need in the community. Each girl must take leadership in planning and implementing her project, working with others in the community to act on her plan.

Linda B. Keene, chief executive officer of River Valleys says, “When our girls achieve this level of accomplishment while still in high school, we cannot wait to see what they will do for their communities in the future.”

All 103 Girl Scout Gold Award recipients and 466 Girl Scout Silver Award recipients were honored during ceremonies in Owatonna and Minneapolis in May and June.

Artist Lauri Wilson donated her time to create individual windows in honor of Amara (11), Sophie (8) and Celicia (5). Both Sophie and Amara were Girl Scouts. The girls’ mother, Jessica Schaffhausen, worked with River Valleys and Lauri on final approval.

The library was a favorite location for the girls and they spent many hours there with Jessica.

One of the largest single-day donations happened May 4 when girls dropped off more than 2,800 pounds of food at the Cookie Concert at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand.

Girls collected food in a variety of other ways including going door-to-door, working with local service organizations and asking shoppers at grocery stores.

The non-perishable food donations will provide more than 18,600 meals for families seeking emergency hunger relief this summer when many children will not have access to free lunch programs.

Feed the Need was made possible through our lead sponsor General Mills and sponsors Mosaic, Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, Land O’Lakes and Wells Fargo, and in partnership with Radio Disney and Emergency Foodshelf Network.

The Agent of Change Journey focuses on power—the power of “me,” “team” and “community.” The girls used their power to plan and host an anti-bullying event for fourth grade girls. The event informed participants of the different forms of bullying youth can experience and its negative effects.

Girls sported blue nail polish on their pinky fingernails as a symbol of the anti-bullying cause. Each girl completed her pledge to not bully by placing her pinky fingerprint on the troop’s poster, which read, “Pinky Promise to Stop Bullying.”

The troop spread the anti-bullying message to their schools by handing out bracelets with the phrase, “Be a buddy, not a bully!” They also encouraged their classmates to take the pledge to stop bullying and continued to share their message with their Girl Scout service unit and families during a local event called the Powder Puff Derby.

“The girls are very proud of the work they have done,” explains troop leader Stacy Hutchison, “but [they] know that it takes everyone—students, parents, teachers and the community working together to stop bullying.”

“Being on the board is rewarding in so many ways,” explains Kate. “It’s a really educational experience. I am gaining a lot of skills I’ve never been exposed to before.”

Serving on the board is not Kate’s only way of giving back to girls in the community. She has been working towards her Girl Scout Gold Award by starting a debate club and public speaking team for middle school students. Kate encourages kids to voice their opinions through spirited yet respectful conversations.

Since sixth grade, Kate has been a Girl Scout Juliette and focuses her time on learning and connecting with her community. She says that working with younger Girl Scouts has taught her the importance of patience and perspective.

“I’ve learned how to approach problems in different ways,” she says. “It’s important to consider different ways to come to a conclusion—the way that different age groups look for solutions has taught me that.”