La Crescenta Girl Scout Elizabeth Hakes ended her senior Scouting career with a Gold Award project that started in Los Angeles and ended in Nairobi, Kenya.

Elizabeth’s project assisted many young African women in understanding their menstrual cycle by bringing and teaching them how to use cloth feminine sanitary kits, thereby enabling these young women to stay in school.

Elizabeth traveled to Kenya in August 2011 as part of a mission trip with her church, La Cañada Presbyterian, through an organization in Pasadena called Discover the World. During the 2½ weeks she was there, she visited various orphanages in and out of Nairobi.

The project was a huge success and changed the lives of many young women who in the past never had a way to deal with their feminine cycle and had to stay away from school or work.

Elizabeth has always been involved in the community, starting back in third grade when she had a lemonade stand in front of Two Strike Park and raised almost $2,000 to fund a Halloween party at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Elizabeth is very involved in the youth programs at La Cañada Presbyterian Church and also is a member of the 2014 class of the National Charity League that volunteers in the Glendale area.

Elizabeth has received philanthropic awards from both the Rotary Club of Crescenta Valley and Children’s Hospital L.A. and was named “All Star Youth.”

Elizabeth attends Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and plans on attending college outside of California to study social work and political science.

“Girl Scouts was an experience that I will cherish forever,” Elizabeth said. “My mom was one of my Scout leaders and it was awesome to be able to make some great memories with her and the rest of Troop 4341 from the Crescenta Valley service unit.

My Gold Award project mentor was Christa Peitzman and between her and the great people at Discover the World in Pasadena, my project was something that I am very proud of.”