GSEM Gold Award Project Catalog

Snuffle Mats for Shelter Dogs

Gold Award Girl Scout: True H., Troop 3565

Issue: Shelter dogs get sick frequently.

Root Cause: Dogs that experience food anxiety often times eat too fast, which causes them to become ill. Measurability: True measured her project by counting how many snuffle mats were delivered. Sustainability: Other troops and TASK participants enjoyed making snuffle mats and would like to make them again at some point, and the flyers made will continue to be shared.

Project Details: Motivated to help area shelter dogs find comfort and reduce their anxiety, True designed and created snuffle mats to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award. Snuffle mats are puzzle feeders for dogs to encourage them to use their noses to “snuffle” through the fabric, providing mental and physical stimulation and preventing overeating due to anxiety. True’s mats were made from recycled materials, using remnant fleece and old fatigue mats. She conducted teaching workshops for a variety of groups where she instructed them on how to assemble the mats. She ultimately donated 58 mats, and an instructional flyer to the Humane Society of Missouri.

Pollinator Preservation Pads

Issue: The bee population is declining worldwide and it is posing a serious risk to humans because bees pollinate plants that provide critical foods and pharmaceuticals. Root Cause: Farming practices, insecticides, climate change and habitat loss as humans encroach on green space. Measurability: Caroline tracked her progress by giving a quiz after a presentation to community members, and by tracking visits on her website. Sustainability: The bee houses are permanent structures and instructions given to those with bee houses on how to replace the reeds when they are full.

Gold Award Girl Scout: Caroline S., Juliette

Project Details: Concerned about the staggering statistics of declining bee populations in the United States by upwards of 60 percent, Caroline took action to build, distribute and install bee houses throughout the St. Louis area in local parks, homes and community gardens to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award. In addition to her work creating bee houses, she also educated children and adults about the importance of bees as pollinators, their influence on our food and drug supply and their role in the global fight against hunger. Caroline created a website on the importance of bee pollinators and how to provide a welcoming habitat for them in a residential green space.