STATEWIDE — Many people participate in Boy Scouts, but only some reach the highest rank of Eagle Scout.
“That means that they’ve worked really hard in their troop to be leaders, and they’ve completed an extensive service project to help their community,” said Mia Dawbin.
Dawbin, an 18-year-old from West Gardiner, recently became Maine’s first female Eagle Scout.
“I’m just really happy that I achieved that and to know that it shows other girls that they can like things that aren’t stereotypically girlie and still succeed,” Dawbin said.
Dawbin is a member of Troop 1776, which is a part of the Pine Tree Council.
“The Scout BSA program is a girl-led program, which gives all the girls an opportunity to follow whatever path they’re interested in,” Troop 1776 Scoutmaster Danielle Hileman said.
For her Eagle Scout project, Dawbin put together 201 bags of items to help out teens and kids at eight different homeless shelters throughout the state.
“They included things like masks and hand sanitizer and other highly requested hygiene products for people staying there,” Dawbin said. “Then, for anyone who was a teenager or a child, we put in some extra little goodies to make them feel loved and appreciated.”
She said her family helped inspire her to accomplish this.
“My grandfather was a scoutmaster and all three of their sons were Eagle Scouts, so my dad was an Eagle Scout,” Dawbin said.
Her parents, Karrina and Butch Dawbin, could not be more proud.
“I’m not surprised because she’s a go-getter,” Karrina Dawbin said. “She put a lot of effort into planning out everything she was gonna do, so we’re excited for her, and she deserves the recognition.”
Dawbin has some advice for other girls looking to achieve the same goal.
“If you can find a few people to help you out and a few friends that you can lean on and talk to things about, then you’re gonna go places as long as you can stick to your goals and work hard at achieving them,” Dawbin said.
