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On Thursday, the Boy Scouts of America’s Chattahoochee Council recognized Zsa Zsa Heard at its Distinguished Citizen Award ceremony at Del’avant Event Center.

Each year the Chattahoochee Council honors a LaGrange community leader who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to the local community, particularly youth and lives by the ideals of the Scout Oath and Law. The proceeds raised in honor of Heard will go to support the local scouting program in Troup County.

Heard was honored for her long-time service to the community and its youth.

In a press release, the Boy Scouts of America said serving is a cardinal value of Heard, who believes everyone should be a public servant because serving and giving back allows people to reach their full potential and gain a wealth of knowledge.

“It is our distinct honor to be able to present Ms. Heard with this prestigious award.  In both her professional and personal life, she is a positive role model for our youth and our community,” Scout Executive and CEO Juan Osorio said.

“Facing adversity as an inner-city youth was not easy for me, but the Scouting Program provided the tools and guidance to overcome,” Ororio said. “Because of Ms. Heard’s work and partnership, we will be able to provide the same opportunities I had to more youth in LaGrange. Our goal is to continue to provide a quality Scouting program to every available youth regardless of their financial background and this banquet allows us to do just that.”

Heard is the CEO of the LaGrange Housing Authority. As CEO, her goals are to create a community where residents can flourish, provide a platform of services that creates choices to live healthy lifestyles, and transform the current housing into state-of-the-art living conditions.

The Chattahoochee Council BSA, chartered in 1922, has helped youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills and citizenship skills for more than 100 years. The Chattahoochee Council serves almost 1,500 scouts in 60 scouting groups.