Lake Zurich Girl Scout earns Gold Award

Lake Zurich resident Bianca Stodden was among 27 Girl Scouts in Northern Illinois who earned the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2011.

The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn.

For her project, Stodden decided to incorporate both her love of cooking and spending time with children. She held three cooking workshops where area kids and teens helped prepare 42 pans of food.

After the workshops, Bianca baked the prepared dishes and donated them to the Emmaus House, an organization that offers free dinners every Sunday to local families who are struggling financially.

“I chose this project because it included both my love of cooking and a specific need in my community,” says Stodden of her project.

Stodden was honored for her accomplishment at Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois’ recent Young Women of Distinction event.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts, and focuses on a 14- to 18-year-old Girl Scout’s interests and personal journey through learning leadership skills, career exploration, self-improvement and service. For many girls, these skills, organizational proficiency, and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.

For information on the Girl Scouts of the USA, call (800) 478-7248 or visit www.girlscouts.org.