Girl Scouts of North East Ohio National Gold Award Scholarship Recipient
Girl Scouts of North East Ohio (GSNEO) is excited to announce Contessa Wilson as the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) Gold Award Scholarship recipient. Contessa is one of 111 Gold Award Girl Scouts across the nation selected to receive a $5,000 scholarship for her Gold Award project.
The GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship recognizes one outstanding Gold Award Girl Scout per council who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership to drive lasting change in their community and beyond. Contessa will be able to use the scholarship toward tuition, fees, books, and supplies required for coursework at accredited institutions in the United States to continue her education.
Contessa’s Gold Award project, Adult Inpatient Improvement, will benefit Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital patients, their loved ones, and healthcare workers for years to come. To improve patient care, Contessa commissioned a standing mobile donation chest, crafted with the help of a local carpenter and artist, to sit in a public area at Hillcrest Hospital to collect physical and psychological comfort items for inpatient adults. She also fostered an ongoing partnership with the L’Oréal site in Streetsboro, holding a donation drive to collect comfort items. With help from her school, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin (NDCL), she led a fundraiser to collect money to purchase items to contribute to the donation chest at Hillcrest. She also organized and hosted lap blanket and card making sessions while the Medical Careers Club and other students at NDCL created and contributed cards.
“Once Contessa saw the lack of personal items for hospitalized adults, she decided that they needed help,” said Maureen Wahl, Contessa’s honors biology teacher at NDCL. “When she reached out to our NDCL medical careers club to help her start her donation box project, my students started fabulously raising money and buying the requested items. Contessa’s kindness and empathy for others continue to impress me.”
Contessa is a graduate of NDCL and was a Girl Scout for 14 years. She has earned the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards; is a Cleveland Clinic Children’s Healthcare Partner; and enjoys fostering puppies through Geauga Mama Dogs and Pups.
“The leadership team at L’Oreal in Streetsboro had the opportunity to meet Contessa in person after her initial letter to us regarding her project caught our attention,” said Nancy Paskevich, administrative assistant to the director of distribution management/professional products division at L’Oreal USA. “Contessa came to the site and spoke to us about her health journey and her idea and plan to make time in the hospital easier for patients. She left us completely speechless. To be able to look beyond herself and her health issues to want to help others and then work to see the vision come to life was a reminder that even on the cloudiest days, there can be a glimmer of sunshine. She is a well-spoken, thoughtful and conscientious young woman. We think Contessa is that glimmer of sunshine.”
Scholarship recipients must have completed a Gold Award project that demonstrates extraordinary leadership and measurable, sustainable impact and addresses an issue of national and/or global significance.
“Contessa is resilient and an inspiration to all of us,” said Deana Mobley from Hillcrest Hospital. “Her Gold Award project has brought comfort and joy to many hospitalized adults. Through her own life challenges, she has found ways to help others. For her this was more than a project, it was personal.”
This year, Girl Scouts of the USA awarded a scholarship to one Gold Award Girl Scout from each council across the Movement.
June 29, 2024
