Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Presents Angie Zahn with Heart of Gold Award

GSSI CEO Sarah Durbin, Angie Zahn, GSSI Board Chair Linda Manley

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois has honored Angie Zahn from Trenton with the Heart of Gold Award, which recognizes the long-term impact a volunteer has had on girls and adults in his/her community through involvement in Girl Scouting. The service of this volunteer has been an integral part of maintaining and recruiting new girls and/or adults in one or more areas of the council. The award was presented during GSSI's Annual Meeting on April 1 at Holiday Inn in Mt. Vernon. 

Angie is the owner of Zahn Appraisal Service and a Broker with Strano & Associates Real Estate. Currently she serves on Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois  (GSSI) Board of Directors as Secretary.  Angie served as a Past President of Girl Scouts of River Bluffs Council for six years and on the Board of Directors for 12 years.   She has been Girl Scout Mentor and Girl Scout Leader for the past 30 years and under her leadership, seven of her girls have earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award.   Angie is a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts and a founding member of GSSI’s Juliette Gordon Low Society.  

“Girl Scouting is a very important part of my life," said Zahn.  "I always wanted to write a book entitled ‘Everything I Need to Know, I Learned in Girl Scouting.’  I started it...My experiences with Girl Scouting have been lasting.  While all of my experiences have been as an adult, they have made a lasting impression on me and the best thing I can do is to volunteer to help others -- girls and adults.  

"I believe that we get more by giving back," she continued.  "Volunteering for Girl Scouts has put more meaning into my life than many things.  I try to live the Promise and the Law every day. What could be a more powerful reason to get involved, than working and playing as a volunteer with an organization who has such a strong purpose and message!”

Angie Zahn: Dedicated Girl Scout Volunteer and Gold Award Advisor – 29 Years and Counting!

Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world through their Girl Scout Gold Award projects. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. As the Girl Scout Gold Award celebrates 100 years of girls changing the world, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is highlighting some of our shining stars who exemplify the greatness of this award.

Angie Zahn	A great part of the success of many organizations relies heavily on the quality and dedication of volunteers who are passionate about the organization they are serving. This is true about Girl Scouts as an organization, and this is true about Angie Zahn as a long-time Girl Scout volunteer.

Angie Zahn from Trenton, IL is a Managing Broker with Strano & Associates Real Estate. Even with her busy career, Angie has found time to pour her heart and soul into Girl Scouting. Being a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 29 years is quite an accomplishment in itself, but it doesn’t stop there for this volunteer. Angie has worn (and still wears) many hats with Girl Scouts, ranging from Day Camp staff to Board of Directors Chair. One of the roles that Angie has held for several years, and still holds today, is that of Girl Scout Gold Award advisor and mentor.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. To earn this award, a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador must design and carry out a project that fulfills a need within her community, creates change and is sustainable. The project must be completed with a suggested minimum of 80 hours of work, and only about 5 percent of eligible girls earn the prestigious Gold Award. To say that a girl’s Gold Award Advisor is instrumental in her journey would be an understatement.

Angie began her adventure as a Girl Scout Gold Award Advisor by first mentoring her daughter through her Gold Award project. Angie’s daughter, Jennifer, developed a summer reading program for kids in their hometown of Trenton. Jennifer arranged for speakers, door prizes and activities for the kids at the library all summer. Angie went on to mentor another 6 girls through their Gold Award projects, including Sarah Monical who is now Angie’s Troop Co-Leader. She hasn’t stopped there; Angie is currently working with her eighth Girl Scout who is going for Gold.

“At the end of the day, we talk a great deal about how the Girl Scout Gold Award project was designed to benefit others. What I have seen time after time is truly the benefit to the girls. The payback for our girls comes from finding out they are capable of making a difference, that they are capable of making decisions that affect themselves and others, and that they have it within themselves to succeed,” said Angie of the Girl Scouts she has mentored.

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award, Angie encourages other adults to consider becoming a Girl Scout volunteer and Gold Award advisor. She states, “There is nothing more satisfying than watching a young woman recognize her own power and realize her dreams.”

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Volunteer Angie Zahn Named "Volunteer of the Week" By Serve Illinois

GSSI volunteer Angie Zahn has been named "Volunteer of the Week" by Serve Illinois, the Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. 

Go to Serve Illinois or read article below:

Angie is truly an amazing volunteer who gives so much to the Girl Scouts and our mission of building leaders for America… girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.

- Jay Strobel

Angie Zahn is a Managing Broker by profession but a Girl Scout at heart. Currently, she serves on Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois’ (GSSI) Board of Directors as Secretary.  Angie previously served as president of the Girl Scouts of River Bluffs Council (legacy council to GSSI).  She has been a Girl Scout volunteer and mentor for 29 years. Not only has Angie served on the Board of Directors for many years, she also served as a National Delegate to Girl Scouts of the USA. She has also been a troop leader, a cookie chair, Property Task Force member among many other volunteer activities.  

If there is a need, Angie is always one of the first to volunteer and say, “I can do that!”  Angie is a great supporter of camp, outdoor experience, and programs like Haunted Camp Torqua. Her most important role in GSSI is her work with older girls, and mentoring these girls while they are working on their Girl Scout Gold Award.  To date Angie has mentored 7 girls to receive the Girl Scout Gold Award, Girl Scouts’ highest individual award.  As a Girl Scout volunteer Angie always strives to ensure all girls benefit from the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.  She gives her time, her talent, and her money to ensure that Girl Scouting is a place where girls gain the courage, confidence, and character to make the world a better place for all of us.