The first Girl Scout troop was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia. Since then, more than 92 countries through USA Girl Scouts Overseas, and over 100 local Girl Scout councils offer girls the opportunity for membership across the United States.
Though best known for their annual Girl Scout cookie sales, many Girl Scout troops and individuals have gone far beyond in impacting their communities.
A local Girl Scout is doing just that. Emily Parker has embarked on the journey to earn her Gold Award.
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award in Girl Scouting, achieved by registered Girl Scout seniors and ambassadors in grades 9–12 who complete a significant, sustainable project addressing an issue in their community or the world.
Parker’s Gold Award project focuses on providing support to the youth of Marathon County. She hopes to organize local community groups to write letters to the incarcerated youth in Marathon County.
The idea came about after Emily Parker’s mom, Nikki, noticed that her daughter had an affinity for helping people who are struggling with their mental health.
“It is 100% her personality to want to offer those kids, essentially, a hug in an envelope,” said Nikki Parker.
“I have been trying to help my friends with their mental health, but it made me think of all the people who don’t have a support system. We need to find a way to help them, too,” said Emily Parker.
Parker is currently 16 years old and attends Wausau East High School. She joined Girl Scouts as a kindergartener. Before starting her Gold Award project, she had previously completed both her Bronze Award and Silver Award.
Parker’s newest project is called Letters of Encouragement.
“We can help change their mindset and make them realize that there are people out in the community trying to help out,” she said.
She is hoping to gather at least 1,000 letters each year so that the Marathon County Juvenile Detention Center can provide words of encouragement to the kids at intake once a week, or when the staff notice they are struggling with their mental health.
“It’s going to be an annual event that I am committing these groups to,” said Parker. “I am going to send the groups an email a month before their designated time, reminding them about the program.”
She said that one of her biggest struggles in getting her project up and running is getting groups interested in helping out and responding to her project idea. Although receiving community feedback has been a struggle, Parker also said that connecting with community groups has been the best part because of the shared excitement surrounding the project’s goal.
Emily Parker’s sister, Kindal Parker, recently earned her Gold Award and was also selected as the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes 2025 recipient of the Gold Award Scholarship, both from the local council and nationally.
Her project was called Bat Houses and Education and focused on educating kids about bats. Included in the project was a curriculum about bats for the Wausau School District, as well as bat houses that are set up at Hewitt-Texas Elementary School.
The sisters are just two of thousands of Girl Scouts who have worked to make their communities a better place through the Gold Award projects.
In 2024, approximately 3,000 Girl Scout Gold Award projects were completed. Each project focuses on addressing issues facing their communities, and the Girl Scouts have an opportunity to act on issues they are passionate about while discovering they have the power to shape their communities’ futures.
The Gold Award class of 2024 contributed more than a quarter-million hours and invested over $1.6 million toward creating long-term solutions to community issues they’re passionate about.
To help support Emily Parker’s project, visit the Letters of Encouragement Facebook page or reach out to lettersofencouragementwausau@gmail.com.
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