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| Casey Blankenship (right) and her mother and former troop leader, Martha |
Recent Girl Scout alumna Casey Blankenship recently received a Give Back scholars award from Murray State University, where she is currently a freshman. The award recognizes students for their community service and Casey was selected, in part, for giving back to the community while she completed her Girl Scout Gold Award.
Casey was a 2013 graduate of Carterville High School and has been a Girl Scout for 14 years. For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she generated awareness about MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which took the life of her grandmother.
To educate the public, Casey first gave
presentations around the community educating people on the facts of MRSA and
methods to prevent it. She also handed
out informational packets to summer lunch programs, preschools, Girl Scout and
Boy Scout troops, day cares, nursing homes, area schools, as well as area
shops. To extend her message to a worldwide
audience, she created a video demonstrating hand washing techniques that can
prevent the spread of the infection and shared it on YouTube.
“It was all such a learning experience,” she
said about earning her Girl Scout Gold Award. “I learned that no task is too big or too hard for me to accomplish.”
Casey is currently studying Nursing at Murray State. She plans to continue to volunteer through Girl Scouts.
