Girl Scout Gold Award Going To 2020 PASD Grad Helping Homeless

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — She is Kim Fern's last troop member for Girl Scout Troop 4069 of Valley Forge, and Alexis Booz leaves with the Gold Award for a project that helped Angels in Motion provide sleeping comfort for homeless persons.

Booz is a 2020 graduate of Phoenixville Area High School and since 2016 has been part of the Girl Scouts troop that for a long time met at St. John's Lutheran Church. Troop Leader Fern said it is rare to have a new member join at the high school level, but through friendly connections and her sister, came into the troop.

The troop leader explained Alexis had some health challenges that made her achievement more remarkable. "In joining the troop she was pushing out of her comfort zone," Fern explained. "Embracing the Gold Award project was no small event."

The Girl Scouts organization says "Gold Award Girl Scouts are the dreamers and the doers who take 'make the world a better place' to the next level. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable—proof that not only can she make a difference, but that she already has."

Booz completed her Gold Award project, "Bags to Mats" this month. The project combined recycling plastic shopping bags and community outreach to the homeless.

Angels in Motion, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, will distribute the mats to people living on the streets. The crocheted plastic mats provide a barrier from the ground for the people who use them, Fern said. They are lightweight and durable and the material used means the mats are not prone to taking on the heat or chill of the environment.

Booz and her team were able to complete nine bed mats for the homeless by recycling and crocheting nearly 5,000 plastic bags over the past few months. The crocheted finished product means fewer of the paper and cardboard bed materials generally associated with temporary sleeping areas of the homeless, said Fern.

"If anyone is interested in this project, Angels in Motion is always looking for volunteers to join or help their ongoing group to continue making these mats," Fern said.