Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Leila Kuhns of North Tonawanda, NY, as a 2022 Gold Award Girl Scout. Leila is a member of Troop 70090.

What Leila said about Girl Scouts

I have grown as an individual and challenged myself to work with children and adults, even though I can be shy and nervous around people. I love going camping and leading hikes, craft workshops, and campfire songs.  Girl Scouts has given me opportunities to visit new places like Savannah, GA, and day trips to fun places in Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls with my friends.

Project: Horses Helping Horses Miniature Horse Show

I am passionate about helping animals and the people who care for them.  With this in mind, I chose to help a new animal rescue called Love Always Equine Sanctuary in Barker, NY, for my Gold Award. They care for horses, donkeys, and goats. This sanctuary is their forever home.  I have been a Girl Scout for 11 years, and I have been involved in 4-H showing miniature horses for nine years. After participating in miniature horse shows, I always wanted to run my own, and I was able to do that for my Gold Award! Love Always gained much-needed supplies donated to keep the sanctuary running.

There were many steps to run a successful horse show: contacting judges, filling out a building use form for the barns and arena, creating a participation form, contacting the sanctuary for a supply list of needs, creating patterns, ordering ribbons and show numbers, organizing the event agenda, and announcing the classes and class winners.

The participants donated items from the sanctuary’s needs list. I knew my show was successful based on the smiles of the participants and the owner of the sanctuary going home with 7 tubes of dewormer, 28 bags of shavings, 10 bags of grain, and many gift cards for Runnings and Tractor Supply. These supplies kept the sanctuary running for a full month! I had so much fun running this horse show, that I will do it again next year! The date is set for October 2, 2022, at the Niagara County Fairgrounds.  

About the Girl Scout 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.