The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can receive.

It is awarded to those who make a difference in their community and is considered the equivalent to becoming an Eagle Scout for boys.

After fulfilling the requirements for this award, Vicksburg resident Elizabeth Cowan is now one of the 5.4 percent of Girl Scouts who have earned this prestigious award and in April she will be recognized for her achievement during an awards ceremony held by the Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi.

In order to fulfill the criteria for the award, one of the components Cowan said included selecting a project that would address a problem and benefit one’s community.

“I chose illiteracy because it is a big issue in the state of Mississippi,” Cowan said.

In an effort to make a difference the homeschooled senior built a library with hundreds of books at the Lifting Lives Homeless shelter. She also organized volunteers who come to the shelter to conduct a weekly story time with the children that live there.

“The biggest way to combat illiteracy is by exposing kids to books,” Cowan said. “When they are young, if kids don’t have books and they are not reading they have a hard time learning to read growing up,” she said, adding, “Illiteracy is also higher among lower income people, such as people who would be in a homeless shelter.

“So by providing books to the kids there,” she said, children will have access to reading material.

Cowan began working on her project in June 2017 and estimates that 25 to 30 kids access the library weekly.

“And we have between 15 and 20 kids come to story time,” she said. Story time is held every Thursday from 3:45 to 5 p.m.

In addition to Cowan and her family, Stacey and Macy Weaver also help out with the weekly story time.

The Cowan and Weaver families also assist with art and STEM-based projects for the children following story time.

“One week we will do an art project and the next week we will do a science project,” Cowan said. “And after that I have each kid come up to the book shelf that is in the back of the room and help them choose a book that is on their reading level.”

Children are allowed to pick out books, which they can keep and Cowan has labeled many of them based on AR reading levels.

“A lot of the kids told me they are getting a lot of points at school through this project by being able to take tests on books that they get through the project,” she said.

Books for Cowan’s project have come through book drives held by local Girl Scout troops, the United Way and her brother’s homeschool co-op.

“And a lot of people have just given me books,” she said.

Cowan, who is a member of Troop 5107, said she is really excited about receiving the Gold Award and hopes this will encourage others to follow in her footsteps.

“Receiving the award is really awesome too for other young girls in Girl Scouts to be able to see that this is something they can do,” Cowan said.