Kaitlyn Duffy

Kaitlyn Duffy worked hard for her Girl Scout Gold Award. Her project was meant to save lives. Duffy was absent from the crowning moment of her long service in the Girl Scouts. The Great Bridge High School senior was killed in a crash in Virginia Beach on May 19, 2017.

Her parents, Tammy and Scott Duffy, received the award June 9 on behalf of their deceased daughter. Tammy said attending the 2018 Girl Scout Gold Awards was difficult but necessary.

“It was very, very important but I knew it would be hard for me, particularly since I took her to her very first Brownie meeting,” she said.

Tammy Duffy was with her daughter when she received her Silver Award while in middle school.

“She said ‘Mom, I’m really proud of myself but I really can’t wait to do my Gold Award. That’s going to be me doing it rather than a group project,’ ” her mother recalled.

At the June 9 ceremony, the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast presented Gold Awards to 30 winners at Tidewater Community College in Chesapeake.

Duffy had completed her project before her death. The car she was driving was hit by a delivery truck in May 2017 on Indian River Road in Virginia Beach. Duffy was killed and her friend Sabrina Mundorff was critically injured.

Last month, truck driver Jerode Johnson pleaded conditionally guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter, hit-and-run, DUI maiming, possession of cocaine, DUI and driving on a suspended license.

Duffy’s project raised the awareness of melanoma and the importance of protecting your skin from the sun. She made an educational brochure and placed brochures in the community. She handed out sun protection at a 5K race.

She educated children about the dangers of skin cancer at the YMCA’s after-school program. Duffy decided to concentrate on melanoma after a cheerleading coach contracted the disease at the age of 16. She became concerned about the many teen girls using tanning salons, according to her citation during the awards ceremony.

Duffy’s parents hope her legacy will be to save lives, not just from skin cancer but from drunk drivers. Photos of the Great Bridge High School senior are being printed out across the world and shown to people tempted to drive drunk, Tammy Duffy said.

Kaitlyn’s parents are receiving pictures of rocks from across the world, daubed with anti-drunk driving slogans. One woman from Florida with an alcohol problem contacted Tammy Duffy to say she checked into rehab after reading about Kaitlyn’s death.

“She’s changing people still. There’s a lot of awareness about drinking and driving,” said Scott Duffy.

“There are a lot of people saying they would have (driven drunk) before but are not now. They are going out to dinner and taking an Uber instead.”

Mundorff is due to attend Virginia Tech this summer after a long battle with severe injuries, according to Tammy Duffy. She said on the day of the accident Sabrina wasn’t expected to make it through the night.

The posthumous award was made by Tracy Keller, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast. “It was clear to us that Kaitlyn had completed her project and made the world a better place,” she said.