My Story

My name is Kennedy Beck, I am a junior in high school and I am working towards my Girl Scout Gold Award. The Gold Award is the highest ranked award in Girl Scouting, and it requires 80 hours of service, along with a project that creates a lasting impact. My particular project is to raise awareness of distracted driving to both teens and adults, because of the rising use of cell phones. Personally, I lost my big "sister",  Jennifer Stift, on August 18, 2014 due to a driver that hit her while jogging across the street. It is not known if the incident was the cause of distracted driving, but as a growing concern in my community, I thought the need to educate students on the dangers is much needed. Jennifer is only one of the very unfortunate teens to be killed by distracted drivers everyday. As a part of my Gold Award, I gave partnered with the Conor Lynch Foundation (InHonorOfConor.org) to help spread awareness of this issue. Conor Lynch was struck and killed while jogging in the street by a hit and run distracted driver. Both communities suffered from these young teens deaths and my goal is to educate teens on the dangers because of the accidents that can be avoided, but aren't because of a careless act. Think before you drive distracted, you can ruin many lives!