Submitted photo New Ulm Girl Scouts (from left) Amber Kretsch, Laura Schmitt and Emma Miller are shown after receiving their Silver Awards resently in St. Paul.

NEW ULM — Three Girl Scout members of Troop #34112, New Ulm, Amber Kretsch, Laura Schmitt, and Emma Miller, were recognized at the Girl Scout Highest Award Ceremony in St Paul recently for earning their Silver Award.

The Silver Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout can earn at the Cadette level (grades 6-8) and must display leadership while engaging in a sustainable project that benefits the community.

Their project benefited the Forever Home Animal Sanctuary, a local home for abused and neglected animals, which is a non-profit 501C. The project included a pet food drive where the girls collected over 1700 pounds of pet food. They also designed and had printed both brochures and a banner, and made a table cloth, which Forever Home can use for promotional purposes at events. The girls also attended and presented information to promote Forever Home at local meetings, including Courtland Lions Club, Optimist Club, Sertoma Club, PRO (Professional Referral Organization), Catholic United Financial, and St John’s Council of Catholic Women. Only 1.275% of the 28,000 registered Girl Scouts in Southern Minnesota and Western Wisconsin earned a Highest Award in 2018.