2019 Gold Award Celebration

On Saturday, May 4, Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast celebrated the 27 girls who earned their Gold Award during the 2019 membership year. Among those who attended to celebrate the girls’ accomplishments was Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander, Delegate and Girl Scout alum Cheryl Turpin and Delegate Joseph Lindsey.

The evening kicked off at Dominion Enterprises with welcoming remarks from GSCCC CEO Tracy Keller, and words of encouragement from Gold Award Girl Scouts Camille Birdsong and Sarah Buck.

“This isn’t the end of your journey, ladies. The best is yet to come and your foundation is solid,” Buck said.

The girls honored on Saturday joined an elite group of women who have made a lasting impact on their communities by going for the Gold. From creating bookshelves stocked with resources to help teens talk about mental health to raising awareness for honey bees in need of conservation, Girl Scouts used their Gold Award projects to draw attention to issues important to them to enact change in their communities. Click here to see a full list of the girls who were honored along with the title and description of their project.

Open to girls in high school only, the Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award in the world for girls (and the most difficult to earn), and it’s available exclusively to Girl Scouts. Some of the benefits of Going Gold include earning college scholarships, entering the military on rank higher and so much more.

Recognition was also given to GSCCC’s three 2019 National Gold Award Girl Scout Nominees on Saturday: Savannah Bowers, Kaylee Keegan and Ariel Hofman.

Every year, councils are asked to select their top three Gold Award Girl Scouts for this honor to compete for national recognition. This honor is given to those whose Gold Award projects demonstrated extraordinary leadership, had a measurable and sustainable impact, and addressed a local challenge related to a national and/or global issue. National Gold Award Girl Scouts represent Girl Scouts of the United States of America as speakers at local and national events. Final selected honorees will receive professional public speaking training, have the opportunity to reach a broad audience while highlighting the importance and impact of their projects and are awarded college scholarships.

The event was generously sponsored by TowneBank and Raymond James.

To view more photos, click here.

Delegate and Girl Scout alum Cheryl Turpin
with Girl Scout Kaylee

Click here to watch Savannah’s video.

Click here to watch Kaylee’s video.

Click here to watch Ariel’s video.