Girl Scout to Earn her Gold Award at Kids Saving the Rainforest
By Delilah Barnfield
Hi, my name is Delilah Barnfield and I am 14 years old in the 9th grade. I have been a Girl Scout since I was in 1st grade in troop 6805 from Redondo Beach, CA. I love what I have learned being a Girl Scout. To me it is about friendship, giving back to the community and being a good citizen. In Girl Scouts we earn Bronze, Silver and the Gold Award. The Gold Award is equivalent to an Eagle Scout rank for Boy Scouts.
My family and I have embarked on a new lifestyle living on our boat. We first went to Alaska, then headed south to Mexico, Central America through the Panama Canal and we are currently in the Caribbean. While in Costa Rica I found Kids Saving the Rainforest. I love animals and one day will become a Veterinarian. I found Kids Saving the Rainforest on Trip Advisor and wanted to visit. I loved the place and what they do for the animals. They really are into education, rescue and rehabilitation of the animals for the ultimate goal of release.
I had a long talk with Jennifer and Chip to see if there were any projects that I could do to help the animals as part of my Gold Award. There are many needs and wants for the animals at Kids Saving the Rainforest the biggest one was the trails. The trails were muddy and slippery and two people in my family slipped while on the tour. As you can see the Sanctuary was nice but was not accessible for all people. Anyone could slip; even young people could easily slip.
The work that I did was fundraising to put in new trails that everyone could use. I raised the funds and Kids Saving the Rainforest helped me to find local volunteers to help put it all together. I talked with family and friends and they donated to help me purchase the trucks of sand, cement, rebar, tools, the hand rails and snacks for the volunteers. It was hard work but well worth it. Here are some finished photos of the areas I completed.
The work that I did was hard but very rewarding. The 110 hours I put in was from fund raising, communications, shopping and working for long hours. Mixing cement, carrying poles for railing, poring cement, smoothing cement and keeping track of all the volunteers. I think the volunteers were the most vital part to getting the project done. To earn your Gold you must have a plan, be in charge, and provide direction. You also have to work just as hard to show everyone that your project was very important to the Girl Scout doing the project.
Now please take a tour at Kids Saving The Rainforest and see my work and what I have done. You can do so by email, [email protected] or phone in Costa Rica, 506 4070 0430.
Thank you,
Delilah Barnfield
Gold Award Girl Scout