When Lauren Jernigan first joined the Girl Scouts, it was because she heard stories from a neighbor about the different activities they did in her troop.

So Lauren joined Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten. Now 9, the Redmond resident has been part of Girl Scout Troop 43814 for five years.

During that time, she has attended camporee (the name Scouts gives to their annual summer camp), made friends and participated in a number of activities she probably would not have done so otherwise.

But this summer, Lauren and her family discovered the value of Girl Scouts beyond this as Troop 43814 offered them support during a particularly trying time.

Lauren recently shared some of her experiences with Scouts in an essay for a writing contest with Girl Scouts of Western Washington.

The contest encouraged girls to share how Girl Scouts has affected their lives.

“They wanted to show Girl Scouts is more than just selling cookies,” Lauren said.

The Benjamin Rush Elementary School fourth-grader received third place for her essay, titled “Make New Friends and Keep the Old” (a nod to a song sung in Scouts).

One example of the strong friendships Lauren has formed through Girl Scouts — and mentioned in her essay — happened just a few months ago.

This past summer, the Jernigan family visited Ireland. And while they were out eating ice cream one day, Lauren’s mother Joy Jernigan got a really bad headache. Lauren said they initially thought it was just a brain freeze from the ice cream, but when the headache wouldn’t go away and was actually getting worse, they knew it was something bad and called for an ambulance. Lauren’s father rode with her mother to the hospital while Lauren, her brother and grandmother went back to the friend’s house where they were staying for the vacation.

Jernigan was diagnosed with an aneurysm and had to have brain surgery the day after she was admitted to the hospital. She said she spent one day in the intensive care unit and then another two weeks in the hospital recovering before doctors cleared her to fly back home.

Once Jernigan was in recovery and on her way to getting better, Lauren, her brother and grandmother flew back home as Lauren was signed up to attend the Girl Scouts camp as they had already paid for it.

Lauren said the camp helped take her mind off her worries about her mother and gave her a chance to relax.

“Which was really nice,” she said.

In addition to providing Lauren with a temporary distraction from her mother’s health, she said her troop was there for their family once Jernigan returned stateside. The girls made Jernigan get-well cards and gave her cookies and flowers. The girls’ families also prepared meals for the Jernigans during this time.

“It was support we really needed at the time,” said Jernigan, who is also a troop leader for Troop 43814.

The troop had a swimming party at the end of the summer and that was the first time she got to see most of the girls after her surgery. Jernigan said on that day, it was great to see them and receive their hugs.

Lauren said if it weren’t for Scouts, she probably would not be as close of friends with these girls as they are not all in the same classes at school.

“We might have been friends a little bit,” she said about what their relationships might look like without Girl Scouts.

She said when they all first joined Scouts, everyone was pretty shy. Now they are all the closest of friends.

There are 16 girls in Lauren’s troop and most of them have been with the group since they began in kindergarten. Like Lauren, they are all in fourth grade and up until Lake Washington School District’s recent redoing its boundaries, attend Ben Rush.