PRESS RELEASE: Local Gold Award Girl Scout Sierra Hoffman Earns National Scholarship for Her Environmental Leadership

MACON, GA (June 24, 2025)— Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia is proud to recognize Sierra Hoffman, whose outstanding project Young Environmentalists landed her a $5,000 Gold Award Scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA.

Hoffman is one of the local recipients of the organization’s highest honor—the Gold Award. Gold Award Girl Scouts create lasting change in their communities by tackling some of today’s most pressing challenges.

Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate the breadth of issues American teens feel are most prevalent in society today. Local Gold Award Girl Scouts have taken on meaningful projects addressing mental health awareness, the nutritional gap among low- and middle-income families, childhood literacy, outdoor activity, and breaking down barriers for girls pursuing their passions in science and technology—along with many other important topics.

For her project, Sierra raised awareness among her peers about environmental issues and helped create a network of young environmentalists committed to taking action. Through community cleanups and a tree giveaway with Keep Warner Robins Beautiful, her team collected over 900 pounds of waste and distributed more than 1,530 trees—efforts that inspired lasting eco-
conscious habits and saved enough energy to power a classroom’s lights for a year.

Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. As they take action to transform their communities, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they’re the leaders our world needs.

According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles a work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non-Girl Scout peers. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Gold Award Girl Scouts agree that earning their Gold Award gave them skills that help them succeed professionally. Seventy-two percent (72%) said earning their Gold Award helped them get a scholarship. Changing the world doesn’t end when a Girl Scout earns her Gold Award. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of Gold Award Girl Scout alums take on leadership roles in their everyday lives.

Girls in grades K–12 can join Girl Scouts any time during the year to begin their Girl Scout journey. As girls grow with Girl Scouts, they learn hands-on leadership skills they’ll use to make their mark through the Gold Award and beyond. To join or volunteer, visit www.gshg.org/join. 

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ABOUT GIRL SCOUTS OF HISTORIC GEORGIA: Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia is rich in heritage and purpose. The council extends from the North Georgia mountains to the Okefenokee and from the Atlantic coast to the Chattahoochee Valley. Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia serves more than 7,000 girls and 3,000 adults in 122 counties in Georgia, two counties in South Carolina and one county in Alabama. The council is also the home of our organization’s founder, Juliette Gordon Low, who founded Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, where her birthplace and the historic First Headquarters still welcome thousands of Girl Scouts every year. Girl Scouting gives girls a wide range of experiences to define leadership their way. To join, donate, or learn more, visit www.gshg.org.