Gayasha Abeykoon of Girl Scout Troop 41738 in Guilford County has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for a community leadership and service project that addresses food insecurity with a focus on the lack of education on healthy eating and limited access to nutritious foods.
The Girl Scout Ambassador partnered with Freedom House Farm and Guilford College United Methodist Church for her Gold Award project, “Food Insecurity Awareness,” to educate local families on how to access healthy and affordable foods as well as install two community gardens to provide fresh produce for low-income families.
“Food insecurity is a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food,” said Abeykoon, a Girl Scout of seven years. “Many households face this problem because they don’t know when they will get their next meal, and the meals they do get do not fit the nutrient levels growing children need.”
Gayasha hosted six classes for kids to teach them about the food groups, maintaining a balanced and healthy diet and how to create their own garden. She also hosted one class for adult refugees to share information on locating fresh produce, proper food storage and preparation and how to read nutrition labels.
The Gold Award Girl Scout also installed two gardens – one at Guilford College United Methodist Church and the other at Freedom House Farm. Together, they produced around 750 pounds of food which was donated to low-income families.
Girls in high school can earn the Girl Scout Gold Award by creating sustainable change on a community or world issue. They address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change and lead a team of people to success. Each Girl Scout must dedicate a minimum of 80 hours to planning and carrying out their project that benefits the community and has a long-lasting impact.
Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they are the leaders our community and world need, and those from the Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont (GSCP2P) council have created community gardens, addressed issues in foster care, combated bullying in schools and so much more.
This Gold Award is sustained past Gayasha’s involvement as she created a healthy recipes pamphlet that is distributed throughout the community, a website with more information on nutrition and seed bombs that the kids created during her class to promote sustainability and grow more plants in the area. The Girl Scout said, “My website includes information on healthy eating and how to build a garden. The website is placed on the recipe book, so people that receive the book also have access to a world of information on healthy eating.”
Thousands of Girl Scouts across the country earn the Girl Scout Gold Award each year, which first began in 1916 as the Golden Eaglet. Earning the Gold Award opens doors to scholarships, preferred admission tracks for college and amazing career opportunities. In 2024, 40 GSCP2P Girl Scouts earned their Gold Award.
To learn more about earning a Girl Scout Gold Award, visit https://www.girlscoutsp2p.org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/badges-journeys-awards/highest-awards/gold-award.html.
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