Community Corner

Odessa Teens Win Top Girl Scout Honors

Jennifer Becker and Victoria Arnold received the highly coveted Girl Scouts Gold Award this year.

 

You can have bad things happen to you, but you can move on and be happy.

That's the lesson that Jennifer Becker gained during her time at the Everyday Blessings Children's Home in Thonotosassa. As part of a service project for Girl Scouts Becker, 19, volunteered at the children's home by putting on an Easter party for the children living there. With the help of her former classmates in the Optimist Service Club at Steinbrenner High School Becker gave the kids an Easter party, including cupcakes, games and water balloons.

Find out what's happening in Westchasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

About 30 displaced children live at Everyday Blessings while awaiting permanent placement. Becker wanted to bring more awareness to the program.

“I really like children and the more I found out about them, I was like someone needs to know these kids are here," she said. "I wanted to have people recognize there were children in the area that needed and someone to love and care for them.”

Find out what's happening in Westchasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Becker submitted the project to be considered for the Girl Scouts Gold Award and won.

The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting. To earn the award, Girl Scouts independently complete 80 hours of community service on sustainable projects that they have implemented as a result of identifying issues within their communities that need to be addressed.

"Less than 6 percent of all Girl Scouts achieve this level of accomplishment," says Susan Barnes, Director of Communications for Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

Becker, who resided in Odessa before enrolling at University of Florida, had already earned Bronze and Silver awards.

“I was really excited (about winning) I had been trying to work toward that award," she said.

In June, the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida celebrated the 45 Girl Scouts who received their Girl Scout Gold Awards this year.

Another Odessa teen, Victoria “Tori” Arnold, won a Gold Award for her service project called "Books for Children in Need.” Tori helped raise awareness of the importance of literacy and children’s access to books. Arnold is a junior who is homeschooled, and volunteers at camps, church and a local elementary school.

Other Gold Award winners did projects, which brought light to the plight in Northern Uganda, created memory books for foster kids, and raised awareness about pet obesity and texting while driving.

While Becker said she was elated to win, she gained a lot from the project.

"I think it was an eye opening experience," she said about visiting the children's home. "You're just amazed to see how much they’ve been through."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Westchase