By Leslie Gilliam | Gwinnett Girl Scouts are making their mark, not only with the organization but within their schools, the county and sometimes the world. On Monday, May 23, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta will hold the inaugural “ToGetHer There” luncheon to salute the extraordinary young women who call Gwinnett home, and recognize the community and civic leaders who support them.
Zoe Gadegbeku
The keynote speaker is Gwinnett County Commissioner Lynette Howard, a former Girl Scout leader herself. The luncheon will be at the 1818 Club in Duluth.
Speaking from the girl perspective will be Zoë Gadegbeku, a native of Berkeley Lake, who earned Girl Scout’s highest award, the Gold Award in 2013 for her project: WISH (Women in Science Health) Career Network for High School Girls, a volunteer organization to educate and encourage young women to pursue careers in the sciences. Gadegbeku created a website featuring more than two dozen interviews with women in science careers as well as links to available grants, scholarships and networking opportunities. For her work, Girl Scouts of the USA honored her as a Young Woman of Distinction, which is awarded to only 10 young women nationally every year.
Gadegbeku credits Girl Scouts with helping her succeed. She says: “Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award opened many doors for me. Imagine if all young women were afforded the opportunity to participate in programs like this as they grow through Girl Scouts.”
Sarah Schurr
Gadegbeku is not the only Gwinnett teen to recently be honored by GSUSA as a Young Woman of Distinction. So was Sarah Schurr of Peachtree Corners, who will speak via video about her 2015 Gold Award project which helped caregivers and dementia patients at her partnering organization, Northside Hospital. This past fall, Schurr and the other Young Women of Distinction were featured on the Dr. Phil Show.
Gwinnett County is the organization’s second largest in terms of girl membership with more than 5,400 girls participating. Twenty percent of those girls come from outreach into underserved populations such as Title I Schools, English as a second language households and economically disadvantaged homes.
Gwinnett Girl Scouts who earned the 2016 Gold Award are, from left to right, Megan Keck, Alaina Fletcher, Alexandra Quarterman, Rachel Raspberry, Allison Gallagher, Riley Moran, Rachel Flowers and Kirsten Hughes. (Chris Hunt/Special)
Through Girl Scouts, girls in Gwinnett county have the opportunity to participate in hundreds of activities and events such as STEM Expo, a day of hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math held in Norcross, community based day camps such as the Lilburn Day Camp and of course the Girl Scout Cookie program, overnight camping and more.
Amy Dosik, CEO, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, says: “Gwinnett is a great place for Girl Scouts. With the support of the business and civic community, we are able to deliver a program that makes a positive impact on girls from all backgrounds and helps create a pipeline for tomorrow’s female leaders.”
To reserve a seat at the May 23 luncheon, contact Merrill Baker at mbaker@gsgatl.org. Cost is $75 with 100 percent of net proceeds going to support Girl Scouting in Gwinnett County. For more information about Girl Scouts visit girlscoutsATL.org.
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