Going for Gold

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The centerpiece of the makeover of the We Care of Grundy County offices undertaken by Amber Hunnewell in pursuit of her Girl Scout Gold Award was a mural in the children’s play area. (Photo courtesy of the Hunnewell family)

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Amber Hunnewell, 16, earned the Girl Scout Gold Award this fall.

It’s the first time in at least a dozen years that anyone can remember a Morris Girl Scout going all the way to the top with the highest award a Girl Scout ages 14-18 can earn.

Only about 5,500 girls earned this award in the whole country last year. It’s an achievement that can take years of preparation and work, but Amber has already said she’s not through with scouts yet.
There will be no sitting back on her laurels for this achiever. She plans on staying active in Troop 407, and even returning to be a camp leader next summer.

In two states and four troops in cities in California and Illinois, Amber’s been in scouts since she was able to join.

The Hunnewells lived in northern California when Amber first became a Daisy in kindergarten. She remembers making a necklace with beads, each of which stood for a Girl Scout law.

Her mother, Margi, held leadership positions in all her troops throughout the years.

Brownies was the next step in first and second grade, where Amber remembers going tide pooling for starfish and sea anemones. There was also a rodeo they went to with a local Boy Scout troop, where they attended the event then camped out that night on the grounds.

Juniors was after Brownies in third through fifth grades, then Cadets, then Seniors. From there, Amber just bridged up to Ambassadors. She’s been in the Morris troop since she was 8.

“I really enjoyed all the activities,” she said, “and having my mom there helped me stay in it for so long.”
Amber appreciates all the leaders who have helped her along the way, including Morris leaders Caroline Cummings and Mary Miller Roed.

Through her scouting experience, she earned all three major Girl Scout awards – the Bronze, the Silver, and finally the Gold.

Her sash is quite a site. It has eleven small stars – one for each year she’s been in scouts. There are torches for leadership awards; wings representing “flying” up from Brownies to Juniors; bridging rainbows; and 16 interest patches, among other patches and pins.

Her favorite patch was canoeing. They went to Wisconsin for a three-day canoe trip, which Amber said she loved. She and the rest of her family have always had a love of the outdoors and of nature in general and still spend time hiking trails and camping.

Other patches include Money Sense, Horse Sense, High Adventure (hers was for rock climbing), Performing Arts, and Photography.

Amber said for her the most difficult part of rising in scouts was all the leadership requirements. But even though it was difficult, she still describes it as “fun.”

Her Bronze was earned in fifth grade, when she organized a coat drive to donate gently used winter coats to those in need. She sent flyers home with White Oak Elementary School students, asking for donations, collected them all, then had a coat give-away afterward.

She and her fellow scouts collected more than 150 coats in all and laundered most of them.

“I think it went really great,” Amber said.

Her Silver Award project involved creating an 8th grade DVD. Her brother had done one himself before her, but Shabbona Middle School had since stopped that activity.

Amber decided she would just do it herself. She spent most of the year collecting photos of school events from classmates and teachers and took several herself.

She put them all together with music in a slide show presentation and showed them during the 8th grade dance.

Day Camp is a scout activity Amber has long enjoyed. She liked it so much as a young girl that she became a Program Aide, trained and certified, helping the leaders. She led songs and directed the campers as part of her responsibilities.

Amber began working on her Gold Award when she was 14. There are several steps and requirements for the ultimate Girl Scout award, most revolving around leadership, skills building, and a discovery process of interests and strengths.

She earned three interest patches, one charm, did 30 hours of a leadership role, 40 hours of work in a career of choice (babysitting), earned a challenge award, and completed a 65-hour community project.
When Amber began looking for her project, she looked at more than one avenue, but found a need that fit in with her skills and interests at We Care of Grundy County.

The food pantry needed some personality, they told her. A Boy Scout had built a playplace for young children to play while their parents took care of business. Now the need was for some more cheerfulness in the area. In the whole building, in fact.

“It was a cold atmosphere,” Amber said. “When people came in for help, they wanted them to feel more welcome.”

There was also a privacy issue involving a large open space between the offices and the main entrance room. We Care asked Amber if she had any ideas to muffle the sound a bit.

After much research and preparation, Amber and her family and friends descended on We Care to give the place some personality. They painted the walls in the main area and the pantry yellow; the offices a calming blue; the meeting room papaya; and an accent wall and doors red.

The most eye-catching of it all was the mural in the children’s area. Amber and her helpers painted an expansive jungle mural with baby elephants, giraffes, tigers, monkeys, and palm trees, clouds, and a very happy sun.

Ceiling-mounted curtains were also put in place between the offices and the main room.

Amber thanked all those who helped her in her project and during her scouting years and for those who donated money or items, such as Ace Hardware, Costco, Marti Sanford, Athletic Outfitters, Morris Auxiliary, and Roth Jorstad Insurance Agency.

“Girl Scouts is such a rewarding program to be in,” she said. “It teaches you a lot of things. It’s really enjoyable, and you make friends, and it’s really nice to give back to the community and have that memory of giving back to people.

"I think it has taught me how to be a leader and how to take charge of a project. It has also taught me how to be selfless – to give to others and ask for nothing in return.”

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