Gold Award Spotlight: Toiletry Shelving and Healthy Recipe Book

Megan, a Virginia Beach Girl Scout, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

For her project, Megan focused her efforts on improving the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center (JCOC), an organization that works to empower homeless families and individuals. Megan built four shelving units to improve the area where the JCOC stores toiletries and other donated items. She also created a labeling system so that donated items stay organized and can be accessed easily.

“Through my church, Lynnhaven United Methodist Church, I have volunteered at the JCOC over the years,” Megan said. “For my Gold Award project, I was naturally drawn toward working with the JCOC because I love what they do to help break the cycle of homelessness in Virginia Beach.”

In order to make an even bigger impact on the JCOC, Megan then shifted her focus to the kitchen. Oftentimes, groups visit the JCOC as volunteers to cook meals for those who are homeless. Megan created a recipe book with healthy meal options to help guide the groups when choosing a meal to prepare. Megan worked with JCOC staff to make sure that her book will be passed along to volunteers and the book will be updated annually with new recipe options.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in the community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Megan to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor. In 2016, Girl Scouts are celebrating 100 years of girls changing the world during the centennial year of the Girl Scout Gold Award.