Looking at the exterior of the Mount Joy VFW, Sarah Hamm realized something.

"There was nothing terrible about it, but it could use a little bit of love," said the 2023 Donegal High School graduate and longtime Girl Scout.

Inspired to get creative, Sarah focused on sprucing up the building, located at 125 Longenecker Road, and she earned her Girl Scout Gold Award as a result.

For her project, Sarah planted flowers and completed other landscaping. She also put her art skills to work creating an original mural on the side of the building.

"I went to a few meetings at the VFW," Sarah said, noting that her father and grandfather are both VFW members. "One of the members of the women's auxiliary took me aside and said, 'There's nothing on this wall. It would be nice to have something here.'"

A member of the National Art Honor Society when she attended Donegal, Sarah knew she could put her art skills to use in her Gold Award project.

"I came up with two main ideas for the mural and designed them on my computer," she said. "I gave the board members the options, and they were very interested in the one that was a little more complicated than the other. It pushed me out of my comfort zone to do it, but I'm really glad that's what they picked."

The mural depicts silhouettes of soldiers with a sunset and a poppy field in the background. "In high school, I was in choir all four years, and the song 'In Flanders Fields' was a big inspiration for the piece," Sarah said. "I knew I wanted to include poppies."

Sarah spent a few months planning the mural and then worked from May through July of 2023 on the project, spending almost every day at the VFW.

She often brought along her Dalmatian, Smokey, to keep her company while she put in four- to six-hour shifts, and he proved to be very popular with the veterans.

"They really liked him, and he liked all the attention," she said, noting that her father, Brett Hamm, is the Mount Joy fire chief and the family has always had Dalmations. Sarah is also the daughter of Elaine Hamm of Mount Joy.

Sarah, currently studying emergency management at Millersville University, has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten.

Earning her Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, was always a priority, she said, especially after she earned the highest awards available to Girl Scout Juniors and Cadettes.

"Our troop was very active, and we were blessed to have a really amazing troop leader," she stated. "She gave us opportunities to get our Bronze and Silver awards, and I wanted that full-circle moment. I wanted all three."

Sarah is a member of the 2024 Gold Award Girl Scout class, and she was recognized for her project at a ceremony at Bucknell University earlier in June.

She said completing her project was time-consuming and difficult at times but completely worth it.

"I'm very passionate about community service. It's a big part of me as a person and of my faith," she said. "I find joy from it. ... I gave a lot of time to my project, but I gained so much in return. I enjoyed talking to the veterans, hearing their stories and getting to know them. That's not something I would have done otherwise without this project."