Lori Schieffer, daughter of Denise and Gary Schieffer, was born in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1987. As a child, she moved to Columbus Junction, Iowa, where she attended Columbus Junction Junior High School. While in junior high, she played french horn in the band and was selected to participate in a regional "select band" for talented young musicians. She also sang in the junior high school chorus. Schieffer regularly attended the Columbus City United Methodist Church, where she was a member of the United Methodist Youth Fellowship. She was an officeholder in her 4-H club from 1997 to 2000. She received a blue ribbon at the Louisa County Fair in the summer of 1999 for her 4-H Edible Fires Working Demonstration project; the same project received an excellent rating at the Iowa State Fair in August 1999.

Schieffer also became an active member of Girl Scouts, exemplifying the ideals of leadership, community service, and personal development on which the scouting movement was founded. She earned dozens of badges and pins for her mastery of skills in the "5 Worlds" of Girl Scouting; her hard work culminated in her receipt of the Silver Award, Scouting's highest honor for a Cadette Scout. Schieffer served as program aide for Troop 79 (Brownie Scouts) and distinguished herself through her work with first and second grade campers at the Camp L-Kee-Ta day camp in 1999.

Her most notable achievements in scouting, however, were in cookie sales. Schieffer sold over 500 boxes of cookies in each sale season between 1997 and 1999, and broke the 1000-box barrier in 2000. For selling 1,009 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, her name has been inscribed on a plaque which now hangs in the Shining Trails Council offices in Burlington, Iowa. For her outstanding achievements, she won the 2000 Cotty Hicklin Award of Excellence, a council-wide award that recognizes superior leadership and service in Girl Scouting.