Girl Scout provides Care Bags to students in need
Sophia Day of Somersworth earned Girl Scout Gold Award with project
August 07, 2023
SOMERSWORTH, NH – Noticing that many of her peers didn’t have enough to eat or might make poor choices for their leisure time, Girl Scout Sophia Day determined she would help by providing items to help out through her Care Bags With a Purpose program. Sophia, 16, of Somersworth has been recognized with the Girl Scout Gold Award for her work – the highest honor available to a Girl Scout in high school.
Sophia arranged to provide 40 care bags to middle and high school students filled with canned goods, snacks, hygiene products, sunscreen, sunglasses, a water bottle, earbuds, playing cards, and even coupons for a free ice cream or game of mini-golf, along with brochures that list local parks and their activities, a list of Somersworth Festival Association concerts and other events, and a bus schedule.
“Sophia really took this project on and ran with it,” said Melanie Chase-Benoit, her project advisor. “l had worked with her in the past for End 68 Hours of Hunger, Somersworth, and at Somersworth High School with our vacation bags during the holidays. I think with that background she knew exactly what she wanted to do and how.”
Chase-Benoit said her project is needed in many communities. “The recipients of those bags are so appreciative to receive them! It warms my heart to see what a difference they make for those less fortunate.”
While students can receive help during the school year, that help is often not available in the summer when school is out.
“.“I see firsthand that many of my peers don’t have the resources they need,” Sophia said. “When I was researching for my project, vacation bags full of resources seemed like a great idea. I reached out to my teachers, guidance counselors, and school nurses to ensure this project would directly benefit students in need, as they work directly with those students. They were all over my idea and I knew this would help my peers.”
Noting that high schoolers can be overlooked due to their ability to get jobs to take care of their own needs, Sophia said it was important to her to provide these care bags.
“If they don’t even have food at home, they don’t have resources to go get a fun ice cream or to know when they’re doing a fun fireworks show or certain things like that,” she said.
As a member of the National Honor Society, Sophia plans to oversee the continuation of this program with their help, and arrange for it to continue for years to come.
A Girl Scout since her kindergarten days as a Daisy, Sophia has enjoyed the camporees, trips, cookie sales, and lifelong friendships formed in Girl Scouts. Through her work earning the Bronze, Silver, and now Gold Awards, she has gained valuable life skills like resilience and confidence. She recommends the experience to other Girl Scouts.
““It is a lot of work, but keep trying and use your community and your team,” she said. “It will get hard, you will reconsider, but it gets better and in the end it will all be worth it.”
Along with membership in the National Honor Society, Sophia is a member of the Interact Club, a student representative on the school board, plays trombone in the marching band and jazz band, is vice president of the class council, ran track, participates in aerial dance, and earns high honors in her classes.
Sophia has always wanted to be a teacher, and looks forward to going to college to double-major in education and biology. Her big goal is to be a middle school science teacher.
“I’m just very grateful for everybody who helped me get where I am today,” she said. ‘I’m very proud to be a Girl Scout. I have one year left!”
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Gold Award Girl Scouts don’t just change the world for the better, they change it for good. The Gold Award is earned by girls in grades 9–12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in developing sustainable solutions to local, national, and global challenges. Since 1912, Girl Scouts have answered the call to drive lasting, impactful change. They earn college scholarships, demonstrate high educational and career outcomes, and are active in their communities.
Sophia Day has answered the call to drive lasting, impactful change, and her Gold Award is a testament to her remarkable dedication to improving her community and the world.
About the Girl Scout Gold Award
- Gold Award Girl Scouts on average spend one to two years on their project.
- A Gold Award project must be sustainable after the girl’s involvement ends.
- The average age of Gold Award Girl Scouts is 17.
- Since 1916, more than 1 million girls have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent.
- Gold Award Girl Scouts are entitled to enlist at a higher pay grade when they join the military.
- University research indicates that noting you are a Gold Award Girl Scout on a college application is influential in the admissions decision-making process.
- Twenty young women from New Hampshire and Vermont earned their Gold Award in the 2022-2023 membership year as part of Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains.
- The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable
We Are Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.
Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains serves girls throughout New Hampshire and Vermont through volunteer-run troops, events, and virtual programs. Visit www.girlscoutsgwm.org to learn more.
