Alexandra Higbee was seen smiling from ear to ear with a tear in her eye from the Brewers’ stadium jumbotron on June 14. Her name was called in front of the entire crowd at American Family Field as the Girl Scout National Gold Award Scholarship recipient for her Mini Food Pantry for Lake Country project.
The scholarship recognizes and provides $5,000 for post-secondary education to one Gold Award Girl Scout per council annually. Higbee, 19, of Oconomowoc, is one of 111 Gold Award Girl Scouts from across the nation to have received the scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA this year, according to a Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast news release.
“It was quite a surprise to receive that, and it was such an amazing feeling. I’m so grateful for it,” Higbee said. “It’s going to help me a lot in my schooling and with my journey to become a nurse.”
Higbee recently completed her freshman year of college at Valparaiso University, where she is studying nursing and running for the school’s Division 1 cross country team.
The Mini Food Pantry for Lake Country is a barrier-free resource open to anyone 24/7
The Gold Award is the highest honor in Girl Scouting. To earn the award, scouts undertake an individual project that addresses a community issue, requiring a minimum of 80 hours of service.
In the summer of 2023, going into her senior year at Oconomowoc High School, Higbee decided on and began planning her mini food pantry project to go after the Gold Award.
Higbee was inspired by the project she and her troop completed in middle school while working to receive their Bronze Award: a Little Free Library. She planned for the mini food pantry to be a similar size and operating method.
The project was in response to the growing issue of food insecurity in Oconomowoc, according to the release.
Unlike a typical food pantry, which has limited hours and requires proof of residency, Higbee wanted her mini food pantry to be available 24/7 for anyone who needs it.
Higbee sought funding to make her idea a reality
After receiving approval from the Girl Scout council and her Gold Award mentor, she got to work looking for funding and executing her plan.
She presented her idea to the Okauchee Lions Club at one of the club’s meetings. The club approved of the mini food pantry to be located at the Okauchee Lions Park and made a donation to cover the cost of the materials for the mini pantry itself.
Higbee also worked with the Oconomowoc Junior Women’s Club to organize a food drive to create a stockpile for the mini food pantry. They collected over 1,000 items from community members to keep the pantry full for those in need for the first few months of operation, Higbee said.
Higbee purchased the box for the food pantry in November with the donation from the Lions Club, and once the ground thawed from the winter, it was installed in the spring.
Today, anyone is welcome to either provide or receive food from the mini food pantry at Okauchee Lions Park, N49 W34400 Wisconsin Ave., Okauchee, at any time.
Suggested items to give include canned goods, boxed mac and cheese, peanut butter, soup, crackers, pasta, cereal, beans, rice, dry milk and snacks. “Give what you would want to receive,” is what a sign inside the Mini Free Pantry says.
The sign also says, “If you find items inside, and you need them, take them. Please only take what you need.”
Higbee is a fourth-generation Girl Scout, building a family full of women leaders
Higbee has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten.
“It’s helped me become the person I am today by giving me opportunities and platforms to be able to spread my kindness and use my leadership,” Higbee said about what it’s been like to be a Girl Scout.
Plus, she is the fourth-generation Girl Scout of her family, and her mom, Kristina Higbee, has been her troop leader since the beginning.
“I think she sees with the women in our family, we’ve all been strong leaders, and I think the Girl Scouts really supports building women that are leaders,” Kristina Higbee said.
“I’m just really proud of her,” Kristina said. “She’s the epitome of servant leadership, even in her chosen profession that she’s going into with nursing. She’s very driven.”
Liliana Fannin is a 2025 summer intern at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covering the Milwaukee suburbs. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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