RSF Girl Scout earns prestigious Gold Award

Jenna Kim of Rancho Santa Fe has reached the pinnacle of the Girl Scout leadership experience by earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. Jenna increased awareness of the challenges facing refugees in San Diego by initiating a campaign for an organization called San Diego Refugee Tutoring (SDRT).

Jenna was among a record 87 local Girl Scouts who were honored during a socially-distanced Gold Award ceremony on the promenade at Liberty Station. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan was the keynote speaker. Last April, Stephan was honored as one of Girl Scouts San Diego’s “Cool Women of 2021.”

Just five percent of eligible Girl Scouts nationwide earn Gold Awards. The designation helps young women distinguish themselves in the college admissions process, become eligible for college scholarships, and enlist in the military at a higher pay grade.

Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award by demonstrating accomplishments in leadership, community service, career planning, and personal development. Each girl chooses a local or global issue she cared deeply about, thoroughly investigates the issue, creates a detailed plan to address it, recruits others to help her execute it, and take steps to ensure its sustainability. To overcome the challenges of pandemic restrictions, the 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts had to significantly revise their approaches to executing their projects.

Jenna, daughter of Kathie and Ted Kim, is a member of the Francis Parker School Class of 2022. She is a 12-year member of Girl Scout Troop 3854, led by Kristen Stone.

Jenna created a pamphlet for San Diego Refugee Tutoring, shared it with 200 businesses, and spoke at her school to share how students can get involved with SDRT. During the pandemic, Jenna helped address food insecurity among refugee families in City Heights by organizing and delivering fresh food to them. She also participated in drive-by deliveries of free books to help reduce gaps in education.

“San Diego Refugee Tutoring has an important mission,” Jenna says. “As I spoke about it with business managers, peers at my school, and other local people, I learned how to build community. Through my efforts, 45 new tutors joined SDRT, and approximately 50 refugee families received fresh food every other week.”

Making the world a better place is a cornerstone of Girl Scouting. Jenna achieved the Bronze Award and Silver Award, qualified for the Helping Hands Award for donating more than 200 hours of service to the community, and earned Senior- and Ambassador-level Service Bars for her Girl Scout sash. She and her troop financed many of their community projects with proceeds earned through the Girl Scout Cookie Program. Jenna has earned a Lifetime Achievement Award for marketing more than 1,000 packages of cookies during her Girl Scout career.

Girl Scouts is the world’s best leadership development organization for girls (#BestPlace4Girls). Through programs focused on the outdoors, STEM, life skills, outdoor adventure, and entrepreneurship, Girl Scouts prepares girls for a lifetime of leadership.

All girls in grades K-12 and adult volunteers are welcome to join. For information about Girl Scouting opportunities in Rancho Santa Fe, contact Regional Recruitment Specialist Elena Savignano at 619-610-0716 or esavignano@sdgirlscouts.org, or visit sdgirlscouts.org.