Tag Archives: Silver Award project

Silver Award Project: Activity Boards for Alzheimer’s Patients

Submitted by Heather Browning

Metro Denver

Denver

Current conditions have provided both opportunities and roadblocks for our girls to reach out and help their communities. Despite difficult times, Alexis was able to collect enough donations to create 11 activity boards for Alzheimer’s patients at Juniper Village located in Aurora, Colorado. The boards were made for people suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and other memory disorders for the purpose of helping keep their minds active. The boards included items such as light switches, fabrics, beads, loops for stringing, and more.

By completing this project, Alexis earned the Silver Award, the highest honor for a Girl Scout Cadette.

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: A Bag of Their Own

Submitted by Danielle T.

Metro Denver

Arvada

McKenna, a Cadette with Troop 62629 in Arvada, is pushing through with her Silver Award project during COVID! Her project, “A Bag of Their Own,” consists of collecting backpacks/diaper bags, clothing/pajamas/hygiene items/books/activity items (birth-17) for kids in foster care/adoption facilities. She had her first drop off yesterday with Packs of Hope in Arvada!

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: Connect with Snow Leopards

Submitted by Nadya D.

Superior

Northern & Northeastern CO

Hello! I am Nadya, Colorado Girl Scout from Troop 68214, Aspen Gold Service Unit. I am an eighth grader at Eldorado P-K8, and I have completed my Silver Award Project, “Connect with Snow Leopards,” to help spread awareness on a global issue – the conservation of wild Snow Leopards.

Through this project, I have discovered my passion for creating content that young girls will enjoy, while also gaining important real-world knowledge. In the process of completing “Connect with Snow Leopards,” I got to make connections with amazing people both within Girl Scouts and the Snow Leopard Trust organization, and it was truly humbling. My project offers a solution to a problem that matters on multiple levels. Not only does it give Girl Scouts stuck at home a fun patch to do, it also educates them on an important and not well-known issue, while at the same time shining a light on organizations like the Snow Leopard Trust and Conservancy.

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: Adopt-a-Grandparent Program

Submitted by Emily Sage

Northern & Northeastern CO

Fort Collins

Part of Troop 71020 has created an Adopt-a-Grandparent Program for their Silver Award Project. The program is open to all levels, Daisy – Ambassador. Please see this Google form for information and to sign up for the program. Adoption matches will be made by December 1, 2020 and a wait list will be created if necessary. We hope you will participate ,so we can match all of the residents with a Girl Scout! Thank You!

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: Teen Alcohol Awareness and Prevention

Submitted by Tilley R-K

Northern & Northeastern CO

Longmont

Before the lockdowns and school closures, I went to several classrooms and talked to eighth graders about alcohol awareness and prevention. My sister and father have been alcoholics for many years and not only does that affect them, but our family as well. I want to help others be aware of signs, so they can get help and reach out when they need it. I created a presentation about what alcoholism is and how to get help, as well as shared my stories.

As a Girl Scout, we learn to help the community and make the world a better place. Many people don’t know the risks of alcohol, but many hear how fun it is to drink. While doing the project, I learned a lot about myself and others. Many people around me have been affected by alcohol. Before I knew much about it, I never knew where to get help for myself, as well as my sister. Now, as I’m still learning more about alcoholism, I’m able to get help from school counselors, and some places around town. They’re all great places if you need it, and don’t ever be afraid to ask for help.

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

My Silver Award Project: The History of Women’s Rights

Submitted by Gracelyn R.

Mountain Communities

Steamboat Springs

While working on the Girl Scout Ranger 19th Amendment patch, I realized that not enough girls know about their history. This inspired me to create a website educating girls, so that they may become informed and aware. The website link is: www.thehistoryofwomenssuffrage.com. The website has educational videos and fun activities to do.

The main purpose for my project is to educate girls about their history, for I believe that educated girls make for great leaders. If we all try to change the world, a little at a time, we can make a difference.

If we look to the past, we can find inspiration about how to shape the future. The first step is to learn about the history that made the present possible. This is the ultimate purpose of my Silver Award project. It is my belief that if girls know where they came from, they can better plan where they’re going. They can lead the way forward and innovate in hopes of a better world. Changing the world isn’t easy. It takes hard work and risk-taking, as well as a whole lot of courage. But if we all promise to change the world, a little at a time, we really can make a difference.

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: Girl Scout Grave Cleaning Day

Submitted by Jaedyn and Emma of Troop 62816

Metro Denver

Thornton

For our Silver Award project, we would like to bring awareness to the neglect of older graves in some cemeteries. On November 7 and 8, 2020, we  invite other Girl Scouts to go and clean up graves in their local cemetery!

For how-to videos, use this link (https://jumprope.com/g/little-angels-cemetary-clean-up/ehCsbcH0) or email HeidiLKane@hotmail.com with questions.

Learn More about Our Project

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Silver Award Project: The Support Pal Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Rebecca G.

Metro Denver

Denver

We have all been struggling to adjust to our new normal: wearing masks outside our homes, schools going online, social distancing, and many other challenges. During this difficult time, frontline healthcare workers are dealing with all of these challenges as well as many others due to this deadly new virus with no vaccine or cure.

Elderly patients in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and their own homes experience some of the highest pandemic-related risks, both in susceptibility to the virus and increased severity of the subsequent illness. The most debilitated elderly, those with terminal illnesses, often choose hospice care to enhance their quality of life when that time is limited. Hospice nurses work to make sure these patients are as comfortable as possible. Under normal circumstances, before the pandemic, these nurses worked tirelessly, each leading a whole team of individuals working to ensure that hospice patients receive the best care. Due to the pandemic’s requirements of social distancing and contact precautions, everyone on the hospice team except the hospice nurse is prohibited from seeing the hospice patients in person; therefore, the hospice nurse now bears the full responsibility for in-person support of the isolated hospice patient. This increased responsibility and pressure on the hospice nurses inspired my Silver Award Project.

To start, I asked the nurses what their biggest challenges are at this time. Their responses included protecting themselves from COVID-19, witnessing the heartbreak of loved ones who are not able to visit their family members due to strict “no visitor” rules, talking through their masks, and needing lots of ziplock and paper bags for their PPE. I took these struggles into account and created a plan to help them.

First, I painted boxes for the nurses to keep in their cars to store their PPE and other equipment and I personalized each box for each nurse. I also painted a smaller box to hold their personal items. With these boxes, the nurses can streamline their trunk organization for transporting their supplies.

Next, to make the real difference in the nurses’ lives, I created the Support Pal Program. I invited Girl Scouts from many different troops to participate and assigned each Girl Scout volunteer one hospice nurse to support. Each week, the Girl Scout Support Pal sends her assigned nurse an email with an uplifting message or joke to brighten her nurse’s day. The nurses have reported that they look forward to these emails that make them smile and brighten their week. Please note that this is not a pen pal program requiring the nurses to respond! The Support Pals’ emails help the nurses deal with their stress and make their week better. It is a one way support system for these hero-nurses at this difficult time.

This Silver Award Project is vital at a time when healthcare workers are under so much stress. Hospice nurses always help others so this is our chance to help them. Thank you to all the brave nurses and doctors risking their lives in nursing homes and in hospitals to help their patients. I would also like to thank my troop leader and mother for her help, ideas, and support during this project and for her dedication to her patients everyday. Thank you.

We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.

Evergreen Girl Scouts work on Silver Award project with JeffCo Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper

Submitted by Lisa Carter

Metro Denver

Evergreen

This Girl Scout troop is earning their Silver Award by collaborating with Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper to address the issue of teen vaping. I’m so proud of their efforts and I’m in awe of their creativity.

The girls talked to Senator Tammy Story about their project. She invited them to testify at the State Capital this session when bills on vaping are introduced.

This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too.

Silver Award project: Reducing plastics in Berthoud

Submitted by Kenyan C.

Northern & Northeastern CO

Berthoud

My name is Kenyan C. and a problem I discovered in my community, Berthoud, was the amount of plastic litter we have. Plastic is such a huge issue in our modern world, it does much more bad than good. Did you know that Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year? And for all the damage a plastic bag causes, like harming wildlife, ecosystems, our atmosphere, natural beauty, and so much more, it is only used for 12 minutes. That bag also sticks with the earth for more than 1,000 years, due to it being non-biodegradable.

Our plastic pollution is at alarming levels and to fix that I believe that everybody must do their part. I’m trying to do mine by reducing the amount of plastic we as a society use. To tackle that goal, I’m taking it one store by store. For my Silver Award project, I proposed a presentation to my local grocery store, Hays Market, in Berthoud. Now, lots of research and planning went into it and I came out with a slideshow about the types of plastic pollution, how it harms the environment, and how to resolve this issue.

On Friday, September 27, 2019, I presented my slideshow to the owner of Hays Market, Neal Hays, before school. He heard what I had to say and appreciated how much research and effort went into the causes I believe in. However, he would not limit the amount of plastic bags the store stocks. Neal said that he hoped that Colorado would follow after California and Hawaii and ban disposable plastic bags. But, we also had to look at it from a marketing standpoint. For the wellness of his business, he couldn’t do completely what I was expecting. However, not all hope was lost because Neal believes the motivation to change our community’s ways was not to force them to, but to encourage and educate customers. Along with my presentation, I created a little “leave behind” card to put at check-out registers. These cards tell customers why to reduce plastic bag waste and how. You can make a difference just by bringing your own reusable bags or asking a checker for more information. Neal wanted me to finalize and print more cards so he could put them at checkers.

After submerging myself with the plastic free community when researching, I felt as if I truly understood what state our earth is at and how much plastic is harming our planet. Even if I cant force our town to stop using plastic, I guess I learned not everybody understands where you come from and some people just need to research and make decisions on their own. Slowly people are realizing the consequences and making lifestyle changes, hopefully Berthoud can do that too. But, we don’t have much time. So, if you are reading this, I encourage you to do your part.

This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too.