Walled Lake Northern senior earns Girl Scouts Gold Award

Walled Lake Northern senior Delayna Jade saw firsthand how important food pantries were to her local community and made it her mission to make a difference. Jade created a Food for Faith garden to help grow fresh fruits and vegetables at the Central United Methodist Church Food Pantry and earned her Gold Award, which is the Girls Scouts highest honor.

“Earning my Gold Award means making a beneficial impact on our community and inspiring younger girls to believe they can achieve what they put their minds to,” said Jade.

“Seeing the impacts of my garden on the community is extremely rewarding,” said Jade. “I put years of time, effort and energy into this project, and to see it impact the lives around me reminds me of why I put in all the hard work.”

Jade came up with the idea for her Food for Faith garden after donating to her church’s food pantry.

“My mom watched someone come into the church to sign up for food pantry resources, and the staff informed her that the resources would be scarce,” explained Jade. “I wanted to assist in any way I could, and, hopefully, my project will help the community realize the importance of food pantries as they begin to donate more.”

The impacts of Jade’s garden not only left a positive impact on her church community, but taught her about resilience.

“The Gold Award is not easy to achieve, and there were many times I wanted to give up,” said Jade. “I knew this project would assist so many people, so it was significant for to me to see the project through.”

Jade also learned how to work in a team and the importance of strong leadership.

“Building a garden is not something I could've done by myself, so I'm very grateful to have so many people support me,” added Jade. “The lessons I've learned with this project will continue to be useful throughout my life.”

Jade will attend Michigan State University, where she plans to study marketing.