Gold Award Girls
The following entry was written by Leah Hook, and covers her Gold Award Project "Enriching the Lives of the Elderly." Learn all about why she chose this project, how she accomplished it and what it's doing to bring joy for a particular group in her community. Amazing work, Leah!
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For my Gold Award project, I created a bird and butterfly
sanctuary in the main outdoor garden (the Rose Garden) of the Wesleyan at
Scenic Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation and Memory Care facility in Georgetown,
TX. This entailed providing appropriate habitat for the birds and
butterflies by creating new garden beds of native plantings that attract
wildlife as well as installing a variety of birdhouses and bird feeders.
My project addressed the social and emotional needs of the 165
aging residents at the Wesleyan. As in most health care facilities for
the elderly, many of the residents there spend a great deal of time
in their rooms, secluded from the other residents. In medical terms, they
are "socially isolated." The bird and butterfly sanctuary
enticed them to come outdoors more often to enjoy the beauty of nature. It also provided them opportunities to socialize with more of the
residents and guests. The enriching activity of bird- and
butterfly-watching allowed them to develop both new hobbies and new social
connections, thereby reducing their isolation and loneliness.
Over a year's time, I completely renovated the Wesleyan's Rose
Garden which serves as the main gathering place for residents and guests.
This involved a great deal of manual labor (of my family, volunteers, and
me): we weeded all existing beds, pruned all trees and shrubs, removed leaves and
debris, planted new ground cover, drew new garden borders, developed landscaping
plans, and selected and installed new native plants and a decorative garden
trellis. The other part of my project entailed the the creation and
installation of birdhouses, bird feeders and a butterfly house in order to draw
wildlife to the gardens.
As the culminating activity, I presented a bird-watching program
to the residents in which I educated them about the birds most common to
Williamson County and their unique characteristics and calls. This
enabled them to identify the birds that are frequenting the Rose Garden.
Along with a slideshow presentation, I also created a bird reference
guide, The Georgetown Chorus, of the ten most common birds to visit bird
feeders and gardens in the County.
The most successful aspect
of my 110 hour project was increasing senior resident's interest in coming
outdoors and viewing the numerous birds and butterflies within the Rose Garden.
The overgrown, weed-filled, poorly maintained Rose Garden is now a beautiful,
thriving bird and butterfly sanctuary teeming with life. Some of the
residents are participating in the project by adding birdhouses, bird feeders,
and plants of their own. Most importantly, the residents are interacting
with each other as they talk about the new plantings and the different birds
and butterflies that are drawn to the sanctuary. With the new activity of
bird- and butterfly-watching, they are building common interests and connecting
socially.
"On Wednesday, October 15th Texas bound girls
headed for Salt Lake City, Utah. Why you ask? For the 53rd annual
Girl Scout National Convention, of course! 
Right now, our girls are working on such topics as addressing basic
needs, education, teen violence and gender equality. Discover, Connect and Take
Action was the theme of the conference and after meeting our new board,
learning great ideas and sharing general practices our girls, staff and
volunteers are ready to Take Action and change the world! The next conference
will be held in Columbus, Ohio in 2017."
This year’s event will take place on Sunday, November 2, 2014 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Sunset Canyon Pottery located at 4002 E. Hwy. 290 in Dripping Springs, TX 78620. Proceeds from the event will benefit Helping Hands, Inc. in providing food and aid to those in need.
I love to travel, hence my extensive resume in Girl Scouts. I have been in the organization since I was five years old and have done everything from getting my Gold Award, attending 8 destinations, working and directing as camp staff, working as an independent contractor for GSUSA, to finding my nice and comfy home at GSCTX.
