Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan honors Sydney Ferns with the most prestigious award in the world for girls: the Girl Scout Gold Award. Sydney, of Allen Park, 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, Sydney collaborated with the Wellspring Lutheran Foster Care Center to create awareness about the foster system. As part of her project, she re-decorated the visitor’s room and provided new furniture and toys to make the area more engaging. She also created a Facebook page to inform the community about foster care options. So far, the page has had more than 250 views. Her team members from Allen Park National Honor Society have committed to updating the page, as they continue work closely with the Wellspring center by volunteering for their programs.

“Staying strong and learning how to adapt when things change unexpectedly is key!”