Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Anna Day as a 2025 Gold Award Girl Scout.

Project: Making Nature Accessible

For my Gold Award, I aimed to increase the accessibility to nature for children with disabilities and increase their exposure to the outdoors, an opportunity that would have been limited if not for this project. I created 4 raised-bed planters, which are of varying heights, each specific to a mobility device utilized by the children at Daystar. Daystar Kids is a unique daycare in Rochester that serves medically fragile children. It is the only pediatric complex care and learning center in New York State. The planters are mobile sensory gardens, containing a variety of plants that have interesting smell, touch, taste, or visual qualities. These planters are enriching and give the children the chance to learn about plants and gardening. The planters will stay at the daycare permanently and be replanted each year as a class activity. New groups of children will have the opportunity to learn from and enjoy this project every year.

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.