Eastern Missouri Gold Award Girl Scouts Awarded Dessert First Scholarships
February 03, 2022
What:
Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is pleased to announce the award of $5,000 higher education scholarships to two regional Gold Award Girl Scouts. Seventeen-year-old Nichole Hofmann and 16-year-old Anushka Rawat will be recognized at the Girl Scout Council’s signature fundraiser, Dessert First, on Thursday, February 24. Tickets are still available for both the in-person and virtual event options and all proceeds benefit the leadership development of eastern Missouri Girl Scouts like Gold Awardees Hofmann and Rawat.
Hofmann, a senior at Troy Buchanan High School, was ready to tackle a big issue with her Girl Scout Gold Award. After reflecting on the current struggles and hardships of her classmates and community members, she was inspired to use her talents to make a difference for the residents of Lincoln County. To earn her Gold Award, Hofmann created a traveling closet of hope, providing those in need with gently used professional and casual clothing. Hofmann began her project by purchasing a trailer and updating the inside to hold racks of donated clothing. She then led her team of volunteers to host events outside food pantries across Lincoln County. These events allow families and individuals the opportunity to select pieces of clothing at no cost to them. Hofmann’s traveling closet of hope will continue to operate for years to come through her partnership with other community members who are passionate about this important and much-needed project. After graduation, Hofmann plans to continue volunteering with the traveling closet of hope and commence her education to become a paramedic in Lincoln County to deepen her legacy of service that began with Girl Scouts.
The evening’s second scholarship recipient, Rawat, a junior at Parkway South High School, was motivated to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award by her desire to make lasting change in the St. Louis community. Combining her two passions—cooking and community service—Rawat identified an issue and got to work! Recognizing the lack of education and resources on healthy eating for individuals and families who utilize food pantries, Rawat created a robust digital cookbook filled with nutritious recipes made solely from food pantry ingredients. In 2021, she distributed her cookbook to more than 190 food pantries across Missouri and Illinois. Through a partnership with LifeWise STL, she translated her cookbook into Spanish, and she is currently working to share her cookbook with food pantries across the nation. Before Rawat’s Gold Award project, she was an active volunteer in her community founding her own non-profit organization, Young Chefs STL, a community that inspires budding young chefs by fostering new skills in the culinary field while giving back to the less fortunate.
When:
6-9 pm on Thursday, February 24, 2022
Where:
The Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta
212 N Kingshighway Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
