Gold Award Class of 2024
Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship Winner Among 2024 Central Maryland Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients
Baltimore- Howard County Girl Scout Kailey Kasbeer-Betty received GSUSA’s $5,000 Gold Award scholarship for her Gold Award project, Blankets for Foster Kids. Fueled by personal experiences, Kailey raised awareness about the trauma faced by children in foster care. #Blanky4u taught people how to make no-sew blankets while educating them about foster closets for foster kids. “I engaged over 150 people to make and deliver over 100 blankets to Mirah’s Closet and Partners for Kids & Families.” Kailey added, “My social media videos and website reached over 11,000 and received supportive comments from foster kids.”
Another Gold Award recipient, Rachel Spitzer, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award for her book, Tiny Kindness. Rachel created the artwork and story for her book about the impact little acts of kindness can have. In total, 36 local Girl Scouts achieved their goal of earning the prestigious Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. To read more about each of the Gold Award projects visit the GSCM Facebook page.
Nationally, only 6% of all eligible Girl Scouts attain the Gold Award. To earn the “Gold” girls spend a minimum of 80 hours to develop and implement a service-oriented project that addresses an issue or cause in the community. Along the way, girls develop confidence as well as leadership and team-building skills. In addition to raising awareness about the needs of children in foster care and, spreading kindness, some of the other topics Girl Scouts’ Gold Award projects focused on were protecting the Chesapeake Bay, providing nutritious recipes for low income families, leveraging Title IX to create an equitable and safe softball field and teaching kids how lunch scraps can be turned into compost.
Here are the list of 2024 Gold Award recipients by county:
Anne Arundel County:
Annabelle Bamford – Oyster Raising
Aurora Nelson – Book Nook
Caitlin Blackwelder – Living Piece of History: The American Flag
Eliana Feldman – Planting Seeds of Knowledge and Judaism
Keira Hepler – Clever Kids Composting
Lily McCallister – Community Service BarSTEM Night for Girls
Portia Flaherty – Benches for Bacon Ridge
Rachel Spitzer – Tiny Kindness Campaign and book
Baltimore City and Baltimore County:
Amy Heinz – Nature Play Area
Kaelin Baker – Love Yourself/Love Others
Kelsi Martin-Yeboah – Homeless Self -Esteem Project
Madeline Alexander – Leading New Girl Scouts
Olivia Hetherington – Money Moves
Serena Pallan – MyRareDisease
Carroll County:
Julia Ellis – Sources of Strength Posters
Kathryn Martin – Pavers for Puppies
Samantha Rice – Mt. Airy Net
Harford County:
Abigail Saltzer – A Virtual Hike at Eden Mill Nature Center
Ashley Heinbaugh – Improving and Restoring the Ecosystem
Juliana Giglio-Tos – Anna’s House Cooking
Lillian Morrelli – Harford Family House Mural Project
Howard County:
Alasia Ricks – Who Said Kindness Doesn’t Rock?!
Amulya Mandalika – Tackling the “Greenwashing” Business Strategy
Ava Hammer – Safe Softball Fields at MRHS
Anya Thakrur – Baking Kits with the Homeless
Hailyn Lai – Grow it, Eat It: Garden Mural and Information pamphlet.
Julia Chen – Water Quality Education: Savege-ly Defending the Environment!
Kailey Kasbeer-Betty – Blankets for Foster Kids
Lindsey Sands – Raising Change-Makers
Lucy Graber – Conserving and Protecting our Local Bird and Dragonfly Species
Megan Green - Mental Health Awareness
Naomi McKenna – Trailblazing Through Terra
Pavni Deshpande – Communication without Borders
Piper Stephan – Supporting Individuals with Memory Loss and Their Caregivers
Sritanvi Potukanuma – Hygiene Community Workshop
Prince George’s County:
Laurencia Aparin – Ghana Sisterhood Day Camp
June 12, 2024
