Bethel Park Girl Scout earns Gold Award

For Molly Hoffman from Bethel Park, going gold means earning the highest achievement in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award.

Molly Hoffman at work in South Park
The honor recognizes girls in ninth through 12th grades who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through sustainable and measurable Take Action projects that address important community needs.
Molly, a senior at Bethel Park High School, has been a Girl Scout for 13 years and is a Girl Scout ambassador of Troop 51395. She organized and led a multi-faceted project that benefited pollinators and wildlife in South Park, constructing three large bat houses and 10 bee boxes that are to be erected in a newly planted pollinator meadow in the park.
In that same meadow, she led a group of volunteers in removing 30 large garbage bags of an invasive plant species, allowing the new seed mix to grow. She also led a team to create a 15-by-20-foot vernal pool as a seasonal, freshwater habitat for amphibians.
Rangers, Scouts, family members, and friends collectively contributed more than 200 service hours to the project.
Molly also donated a picture book and created educational bookmarks to benefit the children’s section of Bethel Park Public Library, which will teach kids about pollination.
In addition to Girl Scouts, Molly is also a member of Teen Leadership Corps and National Honor Society, and participates in choir, jazz band, symphonic band, musicals and soccer.
She was supported in her Gold Award effort by Allegheny County park rangers Max Bader and Amanda Lobdell, Bethel Park Community Foundation, Evey True Value Hardware, Brookside Lumber and Allegheny County Parks Foundation. Her Gold Award project began in April 2019 and was completed in November.