The Girl Scout Law states that all Girl Scouts should strive to make the world a better place, and that’s just what senior Lauren Spiller did through her Gold Award project. Deb Laibly, her troop leader, was just as excited as Spiller, knowing how rare this award is; less than six percent of Girl Scouts earn the honor.

“A Gold Award is the highest level of achievement a Girl Scout can earn,” she said. “This award holds a special honor on the sash of a Girl Scout.”

Spiller began Girl Scouts in kindergarten and, having been a Girl Scout for 12 years, has been looking forward to the Gold Award process.

“I was definitely looking forward to this project, although the magnitude of what I knew it would take was very intimidating,” she said.

Spiller began planning last spring and decided to contact the Christine Ann Center, a shelter and advocate for victims of domestic abuse. Spiller had the desire to help with anything they needed and contacted Anne Loewel, a family advocate at the center and her soon-to-be project advisor.

After completing her project, Spiller shows off the newly-renovated space. Her goal was to make a difference in the community, and she was grateful for the opportunity to provide a safe and welcoming space for others.

“Lauren reached out and asked what our needs were,” Loewel said. “She really wanted to make an impact.”

Loewel and Spiller got to work, emailing back and forth before deciding what they would do.

“I renovated and repurposed a high-traffic room at the Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services shelter here in Oshkosh,” Spiller said.

Loewel saw that this room needed some love and knew this would be a great opportunity for Spiller.

“Her project turned a space that was underutilized into space where any individual in the shelter can hang out and work on jobs or schoolwork,” Loewel said.

Spiller and Loewel agreed that this renovation was a much-needed change for the room.

“With the help of my project manager at the shelter, the room was transformed mostly into an office space for the shelter's clients to do legal work and job research, and teens and school-age children could do homework and read,” Spiller said.

The senior Wildcat’s idea was approved by the Girl Scout Gold Award council in June, and she was eager to begin. Spiller spent over 100 hours planning and completing the renovation. With this big of an undertaking, Spiller had many responsibilities and opportunities to learn and improve her life skills, including budgeting and organization.

“I have especially learned what it takes to manage large sums of money,” she said. “By the end of this project, I was dealing with $6,724. I had to learn to be highly organized.”

Although the time and effort spent on this restoration is enough to make anyone tired, Spiller emphasized the sense of accomplishment it brought her.

“The Gold Award was something I was really proud to have been able to work on,” she said. “I am so grateful to have earned the award and put the time into giving back to my community.”

It wasn’t long before she knew her actions had made a difference in the community.

The renovated room is used by many at the Christine Ann Center for various tasks such as job research and homework. The room was redone as a part of Spiller’s Gold Award project.

“There was one afternoon I was dropping off the new bed sheets and mattress protectors for the bed. I was in the room with my mom and project advisor, and a little boy, who was maybe about four years old, walked in and began exploring the room,” Spiller said. “He was walking around, looking at the fresh, bright paint, and at the toys. He was especially fascinated by a gray, stuffed elephant we had added.”

This experience helped her understand how much she has impacted people’s lives.

“Given that the shelter is for domestic abuse clients, I knew that it would be well used and loved, but seeing the little boy so excited to be in there made it way more personal,” Spiller said.

The Christine Ann Center appreciates Spiller’s efforts considerably and sees that its impact has reached many people.

“We are very grateful that Lauren came to us wanting to help our shelter,” Loewel said. “Lots of people have used the room; we have people who use it every day and they love it.”

Spiller’s accomplishments could only be achieved through perseverance and hard work. Karrine Spiller, Lauren Spiller’s mom, is both very proud of her and knows that she has what it takes.

“Lauren has a determined personality. Once she decides what she needs to do, she will see it through to the end,” she said.

Laibly has seen many girls go through their Gold Award projects and understands the motivation needed.

“She did it because she cares about helping people in our community,” Laibly said.

Spiller’s accomplishment has made a difference in her community and her own life. She is very grateful for what she has gained through Girl Scouts.

“Over the past 13 years, I have come to appreciate the values that I have learned from my experiences and achievements as a Girl Scout,” she said. “It will always be a part of who I am and how I conduct myself.”

By Tessa Whitcomb

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue VI

March 25th, 2021

Girl Scout Lauren Spiller goes for gold by touching lives at Christine Ann Center