Cypress Girl Scout organizes back-to-school drive

Girl Scout Emily Hood earned the Girl Scouts of the USA's Gold Award for organizing the Mission of Yahweh's annual back-to-school supply drive.

The Gold Award takes more than 100 hours of service work and two to three years of Girl Scout prerequisites to accomplish. One of the final and most time-consuming requirements is the community service project.

"I learned that organizing both tangible and intangible objects, whether they are school supplies and backpacks or organizing events, takes much patience, time and a bit of organizational skills," Hood said in a press release.

Hood's team of volunteers collected, sorted and distributed backpacks and school supplies for the Mission of Yahweh. Through her project, almost 600 sets of school supplies were collected. She later organized a craft day for students to decorate new bookmarks.

"I chose this project because not only do I love to organize, but I love children and seeing their smiling faces as they skipped away with their brand new backpack," she said in the release.

A nine-year member of the Girl Scouts, Hood, who will be a senior this fall, also participates in the Cypress Woods High School orchestra, the Model United Nations and the debate team. She is a recipient of the Girl Scouts' Bronze and Silver awards and intends to study biomedical engineering in college.

For more information about the Girl Scouts, visit www.gssjc.org or call 1-800-392-4340.  For the local San Jacinto Council, call 713-292-0300.