They Made a Difference

Aditi, Tara, Zoe, Chloe, Magnolia, Natalie, Nicole, Sunny, Kate, Shivani, April and Sofia— noticed that there was a need for more signage at dangerous parts of a road where kids often crossed. They petitioned the City of Lake Oswego and the City of Portland to install crosswalk and pedestrian signs, an amazing safety solution!

Alyssa B. and Sanika A. noticed that a local organization they regularly volunteered for was experiencing a shortage of shoes for foster kids. They set a goal of collecting 25 pairs of shoes each (50 total), and even with in-person meeting guidelines shifting throughout the pandemic and forcing them to be flexible with their collection and sorting dates, they persevered and were able to collect over 200 pairs of shoes!

Sabrina M. loves owls. Owls are an important part of her community's ecosystem in Maryland. To help grow the dwindling owl population due to urban growth she built and installed owl boxes in various places in her community. She also presented about the importance helping these majestic birds at various events in her community.

Clover M. wanted to address mental health and noticed a lack of resources at their school, so they created a Mental Health Awareness Club. The club worked with a local organization to help bring a positive narrative on mental health and provide students with resources and coping mechanisms for anxiety and depression. Club members were trained, and now share their knowledge with sixth through eighth graders at the school. The new club leader has been set up perfectly to continue the club next year.

Hazel S. and Cate T. were concerned about marine plastic pollution and the impacts of climate change, so they worked together with a local sustainability professional to create a for-kids, by-kids website—Green Future—to inspire and inform young people about climate change, sustainability and zero waste. As a precursor to their website, they created an Ocean Plastics flier with simple ways for families to reduce their carbon footprint, and distributed it through their school district's free lunch program.

Sabrina M. created this website to promote the visabilty of Girl Scouts and to make it easier for Girl Scouts to complete their highest awards. She believes in the power of Girl Scouts and the way it helps the community florish. In addition to making this website, she contacted other councils to offer them guidance for making thier own. She also facilitated interest for highest award patrols and is currently working on establishing a few in various GSOSW service units.

Emily J. created materials on how to zipper merge onto a highway, a practice which reduces traffic congestion. She educated Eugene and surrounding area residents on how to correctly merge into traffic. Her focus has been Randy Papé Beltline (OR 569) in the Eugene/Springfield area, but she hopes the effects will spread far and wide. She designed flyers, posters, and pamphlets explaining how to zipper merge and she distributed hundreds of posters, flyers, and pamphlets to dozens of local organizations. She also created a video showing how to zipper merge - which is used in partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Through her multimedia Dear Society Project, Makena K. addressed the lack of education and empathy needed for teenagers as they establish their identity. She and her team solicited submissions from students asking first, "If you could address society collectively, what would you say?" and second, "What would you change about society based on your own personal experience?" They collected and curated 25 letters and 15 paintings/digital art pieces from teenagers and 10 letters from adult leaders telling their personal stories and engaging with topics such as police brutality, body image, gender expression, and racial violence. These letters and art pieces, accompanied by artist statements, were then displayed both at an art exhibition at a local cultural arts center with more than 100 attendees and on a website and Instagram account which will continue to accept additional submissions. Makena also led a workshop with middle school students educating them on identity, the importance of respect and different social movements.

Emma led a team who built a pollinator hotel, dubbed the "Air Bee & Bee," on the grounds of Milwaukie Providence Hospital's Garden of Giving. Emma and her team designed and constructed the pollinator hotel with spaces for many types of pollinators including butterflies, bumblebees and other wild bees. This plain wooden structure was set in solid concrete footings in an area which the team created by clearing out the ivy and installing a wood border, bark dust, access trails, and various pollinator-friendly plants. Water sources were also constructed and installed around the site. Emma chose this project because she feels very strongly about the world's current pollination crisis, and felt the need to do her part to help. To spread awareness, she presented her project to a troop of Cadette Girl Scouts, in hopes to further their knowledge of the importance of pollinators on our planet. She also created a video which she put online with a link to the video posted at the garden.

Sofia created libraries in several Portland area homeless shelters. She wants everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy books despite not having a permanent home. Sofia and her team worked with various shelters to assess their needs, organized book drives, designed and installed shelving for the libraries at each shelter. The shelters now have a permanent space to display and share books with their community members.

Emma D. wanted to expand the program offered by an organization providing community meals and counseling services to marginalized women. With her volunteer team she designed and held a Summer Celebration with activities and extra goodies for over 50 guests to enjoy while eating their meal. She left detailed instructions with the organization on how to recreate the event including her tips on soliciting supplies.

Courtney and her team collected 1,500 children's books to build a new library at a school in Uganda. Her team gathered book donations, managed the collection of books, sorted and packaged the books. Courtney also worked closely with her contacts at the school in Uganda to understand their needs for the library and ensure smooth delivery of the donations.