Palmyra Girl Scout helps change lives to earn her Silver Award.
Some 1.8 million girls make up the Girl Scouts of the United States of America group, which began in 1912 in Savannah, Ga. It allows girls to work as a team, provide support to others and learn about making a difference in other people’s lives.
Palmyra’s Kelly Ann Gillespie, 14, recently took the next step in her troop by earning her Silver Award. Gillespie, a member of Cadette Troop 24101 that meets at Bethany Lutheran Church in in Palmyra, has been involved with Girl Scouts since she was between the ages of 8 and 9.
The rising Palmyra High School freshman is one of six girls remaining from a group of 20 that began together with the troop. For her Silver Award, Gillespie put in more than 50 hours of service to the community and helped make a difference to others.
“We worked at a women’s shelter, where we made a dinner cookbook for them and also took care of their children,” Gillespie said. “We enjoyed interacting with the children and they were fun to take care of.”
Paired with Girl Scout meetings and school schedules, Gillespie was able to make time to volunteer at the shelter. With the Silver Award earned, Gillespie only has the Gold Award, the highest Girl Scout honor, left to achieve.
“It was funny how I started with the Girl Scouts. I used to see the girls selling cookies around town and always wanted to be a part of that,” Gillespie said.
For her Bronze Award, Gillespie helped construct a 9/11 War Memorial Plaque located between Parry and Cinnaminson Avenues in Palmyra. It took around 20 hours to do, but it will forever leave a mark on the town itself.
Other than preparing for her freshman year of high school and remaining a Girl Scout, Gillespie uses her creative personality as a writer.
“I enjoy writing short stories and poems, it is a good way to be creative and express myself,” Gillespie said. “I also enjoy spending time with my friends.”
With two awards in her pocket, Gillespie now sets her sights on the Gold Award. The Gold Award requires a minimum of 80 hours of community service, and the Palmyra resident already has a few ideas for those hours.
“We have to create or develop something new in the community, which made it hard to think of at first,” Gillespie said. “I would like to do something either with animals or with cleaning up around the local parks.”
For more information regarding Girl Scout Cadette Troup 24101 of Palmyra, check Bethany Lutheran Church’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bethanylutherannj/.
