Girl Scouts Earn Esteemed Gold Award, the Highest Achievement in Girl Scouting
56 Girl Scouts to be honored for earning the Gold Award at Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania’s annual ceremony
MIQUON, PA – Tuesday, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) announced that 56 girls across its 9-county footprint earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award – the highest honor and award a girl can achieve in Girl Scouting. The in-person Highest Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during GSEP’s GirlzDay: Our World, Our Way, a one-of-a-kind event planned by girls, for girls. Kim E. Fraites-Dow, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, GSEP staff, and other members of the council’s Board of Directors will attend the ceremony to share remarks and honor the girls with this reputable award.
The Girl Scout Gold Award honors Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (grades 9-12) who demonstrate exceptional leadership by creating sustainable and measurable Take Action projects. The Gold Award is the culmination of a girl’s leadership ability, time management, creativity, initiative, and a significant mastery of skills. Gold Award Girl Scouts individually identify a community problem, develop a plan to solve it, recruit a team to assist them, and create sustainable solutions that last for years beyond their project. Girl Scouts that earn the Gold Award are eligible for several scholarships from colleges and universities and can advance a rank when they enlist in the U.S. armed forces.
“Year after year, our Girl Scouts amaze us with their impactful and creative Take Action projects,” said Kim E. Fraites-Dow, CEO of GSEP. “We are honored to celebrate the 56 Girl Scouts who have earned the prestigious Gold Award in our council – a reflection of the Girl Scouts mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character to make the world a better place. Through their community impact projects, these Girl Scouts have exemplified the five core leadership outcomes we strive to instill in every member: developing a strong sense of self, displaying positive values, seeking challenges and learning from setbacks, forming and maintaining healthy relationships, and becoming community problem solvers. By addressing real issues across our 9-county footprint, these Girl Scouts will join a distinguished community of changemakers, inspiring others to make the world a better place along the way.”
The Girl Scouts’ Take Action projects create lasting, meaningful impact on their communities, highlighting the significant power of Girl Scouting. Projects range in topics from forming workshops on female leaders in STEM, hosting educational events to address gun violence, creating a documentary to highlight local women veterans, and more. Together, this year’s Gold Award Girl Scouts completed more than 5,400 leadership hours of community service (each project requires at least 80 hours of community service). Based on the latest service worth estimate of one volunteer hour ($34.79*), this represents a value of $189,952.704 in community problem-solving investment for the counties GSEP serves (Independent Sector, April 2025*).
GSEP also recognizes 103 Girl Scouts who earned the Girl Scout Silver Award during the 2024-2025 member year, honoring their commitment to making a positive difference in their communities through their Take Action projects. The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest recognition a Girl Scout Cadette (grades 6-8) can achieve.
For more information on GSEP’s Highest Awards, visit: https://www.gsep.org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/highest-awards.html
About Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania
Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) is the largest girl-serving organization in Pennsylvania and builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. What was started in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia by founder Juliette Gordon Low as one small, yet dedicated troop of diverse girls has grown into 2.8 million Girl Scouts across the U.S. today. GSEP serves more than 25,000 girls in partnership with more than 13,000 volunteers in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia counties. Today, 80 percent of women in leadership and executive roles in the U.S. are Girl Scouts. Girl Scout alumni comprise 70 percent of women in the U.S. Congress. For further information about Girl Scouting, how to join, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, call 215-564-2030 or visit www.gsep.org. Follow @GirlScoutsEPenn on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Information provided to TVL by:
Taylor Campbell
