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Gold Award Spotlight: Beautification of Bells Mill Park
Using resources wisely and making the world a better place is an essential part of what it means to be a Girl Scout. Girl Scout Ambassador Anna is a champion of the environment and earned her Gold Award for spearheading an effort to make the world a better place!
Anna decided to focus her project on Bells Mill Park, a public park located in Chesapeake, Virginia, that features paths through wetlands and meadows alongside the Elizabeth River. The park was previously a landfill, and now serves as a historic site and recreational space for the community to enjoy.
The first steps for Anna involved coordinating with the city’s department of parks, recreation, and tourism to understand the challenges the park was facing and to offer solutions that would have a lasting impact. Anna agreed on a multi-step approach that would pay homage to the park’s history as a landfill, while making the site more accessible and environmentally friendly.
Anna said, “The city’s staff had to mow nearly 40 acres of land in the eastern section of the park. We came up with the idea of decreasing the amount of mowing needed at Bells Mill Park through the creation of a wildflower meadow. With the wildflower pathways, we were able to improve community involvement, increase the number of pollinators at the site, and decrease the amount of fossil fuels needed to maintain the park. Other amenities that have been added are colorful trash cans and more defined pathways that make it easier for visitors to navigate such a big park.”
In addition to improvements made at the park, she also launched a week-long campaign at Grassfield High School that encouraged students to learn more about pollution and its global impact. Anna created posters and promoted daily themes like ‘“Pollution Day” and “Save the Turtles Day” and organized related facts to be shared during the school’s morning announcements, each day.
Congratulations, Anna!
