Julianne Stanley, a Girl Scout from Candler, couldn’t decide on a project for her Silver Award until her Scout leader sent her a Pinterest post about birthday cake kits. “It’s basically this thing where you assemble a cake kit inside of an aluminum cake pan with cake mix, candles and frosting,” the eighth grader says. “There’s a kind of soda to mix with the cake mix so you don’t have to add oil or eggs. And inside, I put instructions and a birthday card.”
The Girl Scout association has three award levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Junior Girl Scouts, ages 8-12 years old, earn Bronze Awards by creating teams to improve their community in some way. When Stanley was a Junior Scout, she built a little free library with her fellow Girl Scouts. Now as an older Cadette in search of her Silver Award, she needed to research an issue in her community, make a plan to address that need and take action. Her project of providing birthday cake kits to MANNA FoodBank addressed food scarcity with a celebratory twist.
To collect the supplies needed to make the kits, Stanley gathered donations from her community. She was able to complete 71 kits.
Stanley delivered the birthday cake kits to MANNA FoodBank on Feb. 20. “They loved it,” she says. “It took two carts to carry all the kits.”
Xpress sat down with Stanley to talk about her love of Girl Scouts, her other extracurricular activities and whether that soda trick really works.
This interview has been lightly condensed and edited.
Xpress: What do you love about being a Girl Scout?
Stanley: I love the satisfaction of getting something done and earning a badge. I like all the badges on my vest. I have my first-aid badge, and I did the Girl Scout’s Breathe Journey [where Cadette Girl Scouts earn three awards —Aware, Alert and Affirm — by engaging with air and the issues surrounding it]. And I like selling cookies. I love Thin Mints, Caramel deLites and Adventurefuls.
Why did you pick birthday cake kits?
You’re supposed to incorporate your passions into the Silver Award project. I really love birthdays. It’s super fun. I love putting together celebrations. And I like to bake. I like to bake brownies, cookies, sometimes cake, and I just made some lemon bars I really love. Those are the two passions I incorporated into my project.
How did you discover that soda could be used as a substitute for eggs and oil?
It was on Pinterest. With lighter cake mixes, you generally will use something like Sprite or ginger ale, and with darker cake mixes you’ll use Coke or Dr Pepper or root beer. I tried it. I made a yellow cake, and it was bright and tasted like a regular cake. It was really great!
Besides Girl Scouts, what other activities do you enjoy?
I like to play the saxophone. I’m pretty good at art. And I really like to sew. I started sewing when I got a sewing machine when I was 9 or 10. I really like making my own clothes. I’m in the sewing club at my school, Hanger Hall School. I made some dresses and skirts, and I made a blazer recently.
What kind of music do you like to play?
I like to play a hodgepodge of songs, some modern, some old, some Dolly Parton. My favorite Dolly Parton songs are “Jolene” and “Here You Come Again,” and I like to play “Here You Come Again” on my saxophone.
What’s your favorite subject in school?
I really love art and drama. Drama is really fun. We’re doing Romeo and Juliet right now. We don’t have a stage at my school because my school is really tiny. Our drama teacher is also the French teacher. I love her drama classes because they’re just so fun, and they’re not like the big productions. They are intimate and funny and super. My role is Juliet’s dad.
What are your plans for summer vacation?
I’m going to YMCA Camp Watia and I’m going to Europe with my Girl Scout troop. We’re going to England and France, and I think we’re going to see a little bit of Italy. I really can’t wait to see the Eiffel Tower. It’s cool because I take French class at my school. I can’t wait to use my conversational French skills.
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