Gold Award Spotlight: Sit, Rest and Clean Up

Girl Scout Ambassador Jessica from Elizabeth City has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and award a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. Jessica has been a Girl Scout for 12 years and has previously earned the Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Awards.

For her project, Jessica built six benches and installed them along the trails at the SPCA of Northeastern North Carolina. She also built several animal waste trash bag holders that she placed along the trails to make sure the trails are a waste-free environment for dogs and humans to enjoy.

Jessica chose this project because she wanted to create a comfortable and clean environment where dogs and their potential owners could meet. Her project also made the outdoor space at the SPCA a more pleasant environment for SPCA staff members and volunteers to walk dogs.

"My dogs came from shelters, and I think all shelter animals need homes,” Jessica said. My project gives the dogs at the SPCA a chance to get outside to meet people.”

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry-out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Jessica to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.