Prosecutor's Office Praises Girl Scouts for Gift to Tina's House

A group of Girl Scouts found a way to help children in crisis, donating a handcrafted and stocked bookshelf to Tina’s House, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office said.

Tina’s House, the prosecutor’s office’s Children’s Advocacy Center building named for the late Detective Tina E. Rambo, is designed to be a warm and welcoming atmosphere for children in the midst of child abuse cases, the prosecutor’s office said when the center was dedicated in Rambo’s honor earlier this month.

The aim is to provide a calm child-friendly environment that will minimize stress to the child during an investigation. The facility brings together members from law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical and victim advocacy in one place, to make team decisions regarding the management of child abuse cases.

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said the girls, who are members of Jackson Troop 462, built a total of five bookcases as a community service project, one “that would have an everlasting positive effect in their community,” in their pursuit of the Girl Scouts’ Bronze Award. The award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, according to the organization’s website.

The center was dedicated earlier this month to honor the memory of Rambo, who spent 10 years in the prosecutor’s office, including the Family Protection Unit and Special Victims Unity. Rambo, 35, was killed in a head-on car crash in Southampton Township Aug. 1, 2011 on her way to work.

County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato and members of the county’s Special Victims Unit were on hand for delivery of the bookshelf to Tina’s House from the girls, Della Fave said.

“The girls quickly set it up in a place where it will have a lasting positive effect,” he said.

Two more bookcases were donated Ocean of Love in Toms River, the organization that assists families of children fighting cancer, and two were donated to Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

“The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and all citizens of Ocean County owe a debt of gratitude to the girls of Jackson Troop 462,” Della Fave said. “Job well done!”