When most people hear of Girl Scouts, they typically think of schoolgirls selling cookies outside supermarkets. It may be surprising, then, to learn that the Girl Scouts, an organization founded in 1912, extends its efforts beyond fundraising and troop activities and into activism and community initiatives.
In addition to balancing a triple major in Design, Hospitality and Outdoor Studies, Maryville College first-year student Lauren Huffstetler ’26 is navigating the expansion of her Girl Scouts Gold Award-winning initiative, Pollinate Our Planet. The project focuses on providing resources and support for individuals, communities, and organizations that will allow them to create and maintain region-specific, pollinator-friendly gardens that are both serviceable and aesthetically pleasing.
According to the Girl Scouts website, the Girl Scout Gold Award is awarded to the “rock stars, role models, and real-life heroes… [who] help fix a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world.”
“I think what kind of inspired me was I was always really interested in plants and gardening,” said Huffstetler, whose sister, Emily Huffstetler ’24, also attends Maryville College. “I realized that yes, you know, you’re planting the seed and you’re tending to it, but if you don’t have pollinators who are taking care of those plants, you’re not going to have success.”
Huffstetler began with a simple pollinator garden just to supplement the herb garden at her home in Blount County. When that proved a resounding success, she decided to work toward an “even bigger difference,” and the Girl Scouts provided the perfect opportunity.
Huffstetler’s original goal was a modest one. She first set out to compile a printable information bank on plants and pollinators native to the Southeastern United States. Shortly thereafter, she applied for and received the $500 Joyce Maienschein Grant, given annually to members of the Girls Scouts of the Southern Appalachians. Using that, she purchased native wildflower seeds in bulk, divided the seeds into more manageable gardening packets, and distributed the packets to friends and family.
From those first distributions, word spread about Huffstetler’s work. Soon, civic organizations and local schools were contacting her to request their own packets and print resources.
“Honestly, I was expecting it to be a really small thing at first,” Huffstetler said. “But I was really loving all the attention and support I was getting for it, and there were a lot of people saying, ‘OK, why don’t you take the next step?’”
From there, Pollinate Our Planet grew in scope to encompass pollinator gardens across the continental United States. A variety of awards and revisions later, Huffstetler stumbled upon the President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) while researching ways to expand.
Established in 1971, the award aims to “recognize young people for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Applicants are divided between those in grades K-5 and grades 6-12, with the latter category more strictly evaluated than the former.
“I honestly did not think that my project was big enough or important enough,” said Huffstetler.
She didn’t think the scope of Pollinate Our Planet was large enough to qualify, but the opportunity to advance her initiative’s name recognition motivated her to apply; last month, Huffstetler received news that she’d won the PEYA award for EPA Region 4.
She attended the awards ceremony hosted at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she and the other honorees were presented with plaques and certificates.
“It really empowered me to keep going,” Huffstetler said.
On returning from D.C. and beginning her first year at Maryville College, Huffstetler began looking for new avenues to increase the visibility and accessibility of Pollinate Our Planet. One such opportunity blossomed into a partnership with Blount County Public Library to create a pollinator garden on library grounds connected to the downtown greenway.
“We’ve planted the garden and we’re tending to it — pulling weeds and making sure it continues to be beautiful. But we’re also looking to expand,” Huffstetler said.
As a lifelong member of the Girl Scouts, she’s constantly seeking innovative ways to improve the Pollinate Our Planet initiative. The next steps, she said, are to partner with the library’s STEAM program to let students and educational groups get hands-on experience. Beyond that, Huffstetler hopes to install walking paths, benches and educational signage to make the garden more visitor friendly.
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