Paula Burrows of Flora and Kindra Smith of Percy are the July Pearls of the Month. The Pearl of the Month Award recognizes a Girl Scout volunteer who has delivered service beyond expectations and helped to ensure that the approximately 14,000 Girl Scouts in southern Illinois benefit from a premier Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Nominees must meet several criteria, including completion of all required training for his or her volunteer position as well as providing outstanding service to his or her Service Unit or the Council.
Paula serves as both the Service Unit Manager and Registrar for Clay County and has also served as Product Sales Manager previously. Her commitment to girls has helped to retain girl members and maintain troops in the area so that girls can continue to take advantage of what Girl Scouts has to offer. She makes sure that girls know the importance of community service and she organizes events throughout the year to for girls and their families.
Kindra is a Girl Scout Gold recipient who now serves as a Girl Scout leader and also was a lifeguard through the OAR program. On one occasion, she attended a troop campout and served as the lifeguard. She went above and beyond to make sure the girls were comfortable in the water and planned activities for them. She also stayed for the rest of the day on her own. She shared fire building and camping tips and then offered to take everyone on a night hike and showed the leaders other paths they could use in the future.
