CHESAPEAKE — Girl Scout Ambassador Jenna Howorth, a 2023 graduate of Grafton High School, was recently awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award by the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast.
According to the council, the Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouting and requires a Girl Scout to dedicate over 80 hours of leadership and service towards a project of her choosing.
Howorth, a member of Girl Scout Troop 1288, was awarded the honor for completing a service project called the “Homebound Care Package Program,” an outreach program that connected the youth of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church located in York County with homebound senior parishioners.
According to the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast, her mission was to make all parishioners feel connected and unified, regardless of age or physical location.
“The ultimate goal of my Gold Award project was to connect the younger generation of our parish with the homebound by providing encouraging messages through homemade cards and a little taste of our love with baked goods,” Howorth said. “My Gold Award aimed to ensure our homebound parishioners feel connected with St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church. Additionally, my old Award project was to educate the youth on the conditions that homebound parishioners are experiencing. The youth minister at St. Kateri is going to continue the project I started on a quarterly basis.”
Howorth noted that more than 15 members of her church are homebound or in long-term care facilities, out of medical necessity, and are unable to regularly attend service at St. Kateri. While there are seven adult parishioners who visit the homebound parishioners to deliver communion, scripture, and visit each Sunday, Howorth believed that the youth of her church had an untapped talent for helping seniors connect socially, the council said.
Howorth created and executed four events for the youth of St. Kateri to learn about the challenges faced by homebound parishioners and simple, yet meaningful, ways they can show their support, according to the council. During each event, Howorth shared a presentation that discussed medical challenges faced by seniors like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and mobility changes. Following the presentation, the students were invited to participate in hands-on activities like making cards and preparing freshly baked goods for the parishioners.
