A Cedar Rapids girl has earned the highest possible Girl Scout award for her age group. Ellie W. has received the Girl Scout Silver Award. She did it by helping community members stay safe with an important tool in the battle to stop the spread of COVID-19. Masks. Ellie made tons of them, then helped distribute them as well.

Ellie, a Cedar Rapids middle school student, got the idea to make masks earlier this year when hospitals recommended their use. In an effort to get anyone a mask that needed one, she sewed an incredible 1,200 masks. Ellie helped distribute them to places like Cedar Rapids City Services and Foundation 2. She also built a portable board that allowed masks to be distributed contact-free. The "take a mask" board is in one of the photos below.

When Ellie was in elementary school, she and her troop started a free little library at her school to allow for the exchange of books. She returned to that school this year, filling the little library with masks perfectly sized for kids (photo below), to help them stay safe as they returned to school.

According to a release from the Girls Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, Ellie said,

Over one thousand people in our community now have masks that they didn't have before. We made them more accessible to people who couldn't afford them in stores, or couldn't go to stores because they didn't have masks! My mom and I have started noticing people in public who are wearing one of our masks, and it's cool seeing that all they needed was someone to make it a little easier for them to stay safe.

The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest a 6th through 8th grader can achieve. Congratulations and thank you, Ellie!

Ellie W. Earns Girl Scout Silver Award

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