Ashlyn Perry stands by the blood mobile during the blood drive that she organized to qualify for the Gold Award in Girl Scouts. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Ashlyn Perry’s project to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award possibly could have saved someone’s life.

Perry organized a blood drive at Messiah Lutheran Church. American Red Cross sponsored her drive.

“The blood drive got 25 pints of blood, which helped me gain an opportunity at a possible scholarship,” Perry said.

“Plus, hospitals all around the world need at least 200 pints of blood a day,” she said. “With the blood drive I organized, I helped earn at least one-eighth of that need.”

For Perry, the Gold Award was a challenge to conquer. “It’s the highest rank a Girl Scout can achieve,” she said. “I wanted to help someone in need. It was important to me because knowing that I helped at least one person somewhere was, and is, priceless.”

To prepare for the drive, Perry handled advertisements herself, along with fliers from American Red Cross. “I was lucky because Red Cross paid for the cost of the blood mobile. I just needed to get people to come.”

“The hardest part was planning a potluck (for) the event, which was in requirements for finishing my project. A nice man at my church made the potluck an event, linked it to my blood drive and lots of people signed up to bring food,” Perry said.

Perry feels very lucky to have had support from Messiah Lutheran members. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Her project has required about seven months. She recently completed her final report for submission on Feb. 7.

Perry acknowledged help from Claire Strand, Greg Kilby, Sara Cochran, Kevin Reid, Deborah Hissam and Meggy DeJong, along with Scouts Leah Plume and Sarah Haidar from Troop 737.

Her parents are Jay and Gretchen Perry. Gretchen leads Troop 737. AshIyn’s brother Jayson is a junior at Auburn University.

Ashlyn is a lifelong Madison resident. She is a senior at Bob Jones High School, where she has earned several art and music awards.