Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Crystal Harmon of Rochester, NY, as a 2021 Gold Award Girl Scout. Crystal is from Troop 60828 and has been a member of Girl Scouts for 13 years.

What Crystal said about Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts has shown me to be respectful of nature, and to treat other Girl Scouts like they’re my sister. Also Girl Scouts was able to teach me to love my community and to respect animals and their habitat and to not be wasteful.

Project: Greece Baptist Church Reflection Garden

My Gold Award project is in Greece, NY. The agency that I collaborated with was Greece Baptist Church. I dug up a big old shrub, weeded the garden, planted new flowers, and I refurbished a 45-year-old bench.

I chose this project because I wanted to help the environment and make it into a clean and peaceful place for people to enjoy. There was vast overgrowth in the courtyard. I picked perennials that barely require any maintenance and most of the flowers attract butterflies. I sanded and disassembled the bench, painted the rails black, painted the wood, and reassembled it. The purpose of my project was to make the courtyard look like a better newer more updated area.

The leadership skills I put into practice were guiding others, decision making, answering questions, and providing the necessary tools to accomplish the work.

The project will impact my community positively and I have gotten a lot of good feedback from it! A lady and her husband got married at the church and had their receiving line in the courtyard. She was so thrilled to see the garden fixed up!

About the Gold Award

The Gold Award project is the culmination of all the work a girl puts into “going for the Gold.” A Girl Scout’s project should be something that a girl can be passionate about—in thought, deed, and action that encompasses organizational, leadership, and networking skills. The project should also fulfill a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global) and create change that has the potential to be on-going or sustainable. Approximately 80 hours of community service are involved in the project. Completion of the Gold Award also qualifies the Girl Scout for special scholarship opportunities and she can enlist in the military at a higher starting pay grade.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award in the world for girls, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. These young women are courageous leaders and visionary change makers.

The Gold Award requires a Girl Scout to identify an issue and investigate it to understand what can be done to address the problem. The girl then forms a team to act as a support system, including a project advisor close to the issue who is not a troop leader or family member, while she leads the project. The Girl Scout creates a plan to ensure they know what steps they must tackle while working on the project. The Girl Scout submits a proposal for her project to her local Girl Scout council. After acceptance, the girl begins to work through the steps of their plan utilizing the assistance of her support team where necessary. Lastly, the project is used to educate and inspire others about the cause they are addressing.

For more information on the Gold Award, click here.