The tragic death of her older sister is inspiring Caitlin Beard of Hartselle to win the Gold Award in Girl Scouting.

A 2013 graduate of Hartselle High School, Caitlin is gathering information and photographs for the production of a video on “Distracted Driving.” It will serve as a community service project, which is required to meet the qualifications of Girl Scout’s highest award.

Caitlin’s sister, Casey Blevins, 15, lost her life in a car-train collision at the Kayo Road CSX crossing on July 7, 1999. At the time, Caitlin was four. A classmate, Lindsey Wilson,16, died in the same accident.

“This is something I wanted to do to protect others from feeling our pain,” said Caitlin, who will enroll at Troy University next August with academic and music scholarships.

Caitlin said her video would feature the stories of families like hers whose lives were shattered by the accidental deaths of loved ones.

“I have the testimonies of two families and I’m looking for others,” she said. “I’m encouraging anyone who has a story I can use to contact me at facebook.com/striveto drivearrivealive, or go to the web site: shift-focus-to-driving-onlyweekly.-com.

She said her goal is to have the video completed in August. It will be made available to local high schools as an educational tool to alert students to avoid distractions while driving.

Caitlin Beard, Girl Scout Ambassador