Name: Jenica Hopkins
Location: Pleasant Plains, Illinois
Contribution: Co-leads a pollution-fighting Girl Scout troop

Tell me about Troop 6195.

There are 11 girls in the troop, including my two daughters—Alivia, who is 5, and Ameilia, who is 10. Reverend Lonna C. Lee and I started the troop together about two years ago. Our crest is the wild rose, which represents perseverance in the face of adversity.

How did you first get involved with the Sierra Club?

Ameilia was doing a fourth-grade report about careers, and she decided she was interested in becoming an environmental lobbyist. So I said, "Why don't we go to a Sierra Club meeting?" because I happened to get a notice in my email. I hadn't been to a meeting in years. Trying to raise a family, you just get pulled in so many directions.

How did you get the idea to involve the troop?

We started going to meetings and learning about coal ash. Illinois is a coal-loving state, and we have at least 90 pits as of last count. I realized the girls could raise awareness about this issue. Part of the Girl Scout creed is to be good stewards of the earth's resources.

Was the whole troop onboard?

Yes. Elizabeth Scrafford from the Beyond Coal campaign came and talked to the girls. That was their introduction to an environmental campaign. She asked if they wanted to co-host a screening for the documentary Coal Ash Stories, and they were thrilled. The girls put up posters, sent out a press release, and circulated petitions among family, friends, and neighbors.

What happened next?

After the screening, we decided to contact the mayor of Springfield, so Ameilia sent him a letter, and then the entire troop met with him and put on a presentation about coal ash. On the same day, we went to Springfield Lake with the Sierra Club and tested the water for contaminants. We're waiting for the test results. If they reveal high rates of carcinogens, we're going to have a press conference.

What's the big takeaway for the troop?

At one of the Sierra Club meetings we attended, Ameilia raised her hand and asked, "How much has to happen before somebody says something?" That's a really profound question, because I think everybody is assuming if coal ash is that big of a problem, somebody will take care of it, without realizing that nobody seems to know who that somebody is. I'm really proud of the girls in our troop because they know at such an early age that they are that somebody.

This article appeared as "Leading the Troop" in the November/December 2015 print edition of Sierra.