Girl Scout Lilly Poehler earns Gold Award

Lilly Poehler, a graduate of Hoover High School, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.

Poehler earned her Gold Award for her project, “Blood Drives Save Lives,” supporting awareness of the importance of giving blood.

Poehler grew up going with her mom to blood drives and was impacted by her grandfather needing a blood transfusion in the hospital, so she knows how dangerous a low blood supply is for those who need blood products for medical treatments and procedures.

She volunteered several times with the American Red Cross blood drives before sponsoring her own. Her blood drive drew several first-time donors and overall collected 37 units of whole blood. A single unit of whole blood can help save up to 3 lives, so her blood drive had the potential to save the lives of up to 111 people.

To further educate her community, she created a presentation that she shared with various groups, like her church. She shared how beneficial giving blood is to patients, as well as the donors themselves, and shared resources for groups wanting to host their own blood drives.

Poehler wants to be a trauma nurse practitioner. She is currently studying nursing at the University of South Alabama.

“Doing this project really helped solidify my ambitions and it made me see what kind of impact I could have,” she said.

“By earning the Girl Scout Gold Award,” said Karen Peterlin, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama, “Lilly has become a community leader. Her accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set her apart.”

Each girl earning her Gold Award demonstrates excellence through a leadership project totaling more than 65 hours.

Submitted by Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama