Two Decorah girls have earned the highest award in Girls Scouts. Jada Vanden Brink (pictured right) and Ashley Darling (pictured left) have earned their Gold Award through Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

Jada noticed that members of her local church were having difficulty communicating and weren't aware of volunteer opportunities because the directory was out of date. She created a plan to collect all current contact information of members and made a new and improved directory for everyone in her church to use. She also updated the church's website and social media pages to keep members connected through multiple ways.

Ashley noticed that some of the gravestones in her city's cemetery were being neglected and falling to decay. She felt that this issue stemmed from a lack of knowledge of how to properly care for gravestones, and about the people and history that are buried there. Ashley used her leadership skills learned through Girl Scouts to take action and make a plan to improve the Bluffton Community Cemetery. By holding her own workshop day, where the community had the opportunity to learn the method for cleaning gravestones, Darling helped to share with her community the importance of caring for cemeteries so that they will be there for future generations.

United Way of Winneshiek County is proud to support Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Please join us in congratulating these young women on their awards.