Keene twins earn Girl Scout Silver Awards for their work with animal sanctuary, homeless shelter

Dec. 4—After more than eight years of working in the community to make a better world, Keene twins Kara and Leah Frost each recently earned recognition from the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains.

The two received their Silver Awards at the Young Women of Distinction ceremonies, which took place in Bedford on Nov. 16. The Girl Scout Silver Award is available to Girl Scout Cadettes in 6th through 8th grade.

Patricia K. Mellor, CEO of the council serving girls throughout New Hampshire and Vermont, noted that the awards are the result of leadership, dedication and hard work.

"Today's celebration is a testament to the dedication and hard work necessary to accomplish the highest achievements in Girl Scouting," she said. "These remarkable young women are a result of what Girl Scouts offers — programming that develops Girl Scouts of the utmost courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place."

To earn a Silver Award, Girl Scouts put in hours of work on a project that addresses a problem in their community or the world at large and "can lead to lasting change," according to the Girl Scouts of the USA.

The girls both finished their projects at the end of their 8th-grade year this past summer at the age of 14.

In a project called "Book for All," Leah developed a library for Hundred Nights Inc., a local shelter. She said she chose to do this because of her love of books and what they can give to people.

"I love to read, and I wanted other people to have the same opportunities that I had," Leah said.

The Toadstool Bookshop in Keene donated books to Leah and her project after communicating her goal to various people in the community. For free, the bookstore allowed her to come into the store and pick out books to put in the shelter library. She also received many books from people in the community.

"People really wanted to help me out and they seemed interested," Leah said. "They loved talking about it and asking me questions. It made me really happy to see other people notice a problem in the community and want to be included in fixing it."

An aspect central to Leah's project, the Girl Scouts' mission and the Silver Awards is that of community outreach — to find out what can be improved upon to make a sustainable difference for others. Leah said the community at the shelter were happy to have an opportunity to read.

Although her project is completed, she still plans to go into the shelter periodically to organize and continue collecting donations.

Leah said she will remain in Girl Scouts through her senior year of high school because she loves being able to help people.

"When you see the look on people's faces, how happy they are and filled with joy with one little thing you do to help them, it's kept me in Girls Scouts and wanting to meet people's needs," Leah said.

Kara chose to help Amazing Grace Animal Sanctuary in Sullivan because she's always loved animals. After speaking to the founder, Donna Watterson, they decided there was a need for the sanctuary to have a sign.

"She really felt that a welcome sign would help people know that they're able to go up to the barn and visit the animals," Kara said.

Watterson gave her the creative freedom to draw up whatever sign she would like. After creating the design, Home Depot donated half of the items she needed, she said. It took her two weeks to make the sign, with the help of her dad. When it was finished, Kara went out and secured it in the ground with a concrete base.

A few days later she went back to have an open house so that people could come see the animals and the new sign. There, she was given the opportunity to tell members of the community about her work and the importance of the sanctuary.

Kara said her project is sustainable because the sanctuary will be able to use it for years.

For Kara, being able to help the community as a Girl Scout is a meaningful experience that she can't imagine life without. She hopes after graduating college to start a Girl Scout troop of her own.

Kara and Leah have been Girl Scouts since they were in kindergarten. Their mom, Thais Frost, has been their troop leader since the girls were in 1st grade. After moving from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in 1st grade, she realized there were no Brownie troops for her daughters to join, so she developed her own. Their troop has six girls.

All three of them said they love being able to have this experience together.

Kara said having their mom as a troop leader has been great, but also having her sister in Girl Scouts is what has kept her going. Leah agreed.

"It's nice to have somebody that we're both working together and have the same thing that we're working toward, it's been really nice," Leah said.

Thais said she hopes the girls will stay in Girl Scouts as long as they can because it's a program that helps the community but also comes with prestigious awards that are great for their resumes. She plans to continue being the troop leader as long as they are still in it.

"I definitely want to be part of that in their life and continue to support them in whatever way I can," Thais said. "It's just neat to have this journey together."

Jamie Browder can be reached at 352-1234 ext. 1427 or jbrowder@keenesentinel.com