Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan honors Scarlet Jackson with the most prestigious award in the world for girls: the Girl Scout Gold Award. Scarlet, of Burton, is among 14 young women who have taken the initiative to bettering their communities through sustainable community change projects. The time and commitment they’ve dedicated towards these projects prove they’re true leaders and exceptional examples for all girls to look up to.

The Gold Award is Girl Scout’s highest honor and is presented to Girl Scouts who address a community issue or problem they are passionate about. They’re required to spend at least 80 hours investigating the problem, creating a plan and implementing it.

For her Gold Award project, Scarlet took action to initiate the ban of cat declawing in the state of Michigan. Scarlet noticed that many declawed cats in local shelters were having severe problems including pain when walking, not using the litter box and increased anger. After researching this issue, Scarlet took action and emailed all the vets in Genesee County to gather data. She found out that many veterinary clinics do not support cat declawing and would like to see it banned in Michigan. To grow awareness, Scarlet made flyers, created a petition, created a Facebook page and visited representatives in the House of Representatives. After her hard work and dedication, Scarlet received a commitment from representatives that a bill would be introduced, banning cat declawing in the state of Michigan.

“Throughout this journey, I’ve learned many things about myself, including the importance of communication and motivation. I can help cats stay healthy, one paw at a time!”