Eight Bellmore Girl Scouts Awarded Highest Honor

Bellmore, NY (June 30, 2016)— The Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently distributed 101 Gold Awards during a ceremony hosted by the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Andrea Beganskas, Natalie Bloniarz, Katharine Conroy, Lauren Conroy, Sarah Fernandez, Jennifer Fithian, Bianca Liriano and Maribel Sabino of Bellmore were among awardees. Now in its hundredth year, the Gold Award program recognizes the power and dedication shared by an elite group of young women who earn the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve. Each girl spent more than 80 hours over the past year planning, executing and presenting the results of her project, which aimed to make the world a better place for others as well as herself.

“We are extremely proud to celebrate the achievement of over 100 local young women earning their Girl Scout Gold Award during its 100th year,” said Donna Ceravolo, Executive Director and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “On average, only five percent of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award, making these individuals part of an exclusive group of women with the tools to become leaders in the 21st century.”

Gold Award projects have positively impacted girls’ lives, their communities and the world for 100 years. Approximately 1 million Girl Scout alumnae have developed Gold Award projects that addressed local or global issues. After identifying an area of interest, a successful Gold Award recipient performs hours of research and prepares a project proposal to be submitted for feedback and approval to the Girl Scouts Council before embarking on her project. The Girl Scout presents her final conclusions as the last step of the journey.

The eight recipients each tackled a project that held a deep significance to them. Their projects are described below:

Through her Gold Award project, “DRVC Youth Ministry,” Andrea created a series of videos portraying the fun adventures and the good work of the members of youth groups on Long Island. Besides being posted to various social media platforms, a copy of Andrea’s video was presented to numerous parishes within the Diocese of Rockville Centre so it can be used as a recruitment tool for youth ministry. The video has been featured on the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s website.

Natalie addressed the needs of local shelters beyond adoption through her Gold Award project, “Animal Adoption Awareness for Teens.” She created a website that included the research she did, her presentation and crafts that can be done to benefit shelters. Additionally, Natalie presented her information at a local street fair and held an information session for her Girl Scout Troop and her crew team at a local library.

Katharine recognized that the United States is facing a health epidemic in which many are suffering from obesity and health problems which inspired her project, “Food for Thought.” Katharine chose to address and take action on this important issue by teaching her peers to live on easy, home cooked meals, rather than turning to fast food as the answer. Katharine made it her mission to provide educational lessons to her peers on the health benefits of all the different food groups, in addition to conducting classes to increase their cooking skills. She also created a website, Facebook page, and cookbook with great tips and recipes for simple and nutritious snack and meal options.

Her life-long love for animals, along with owning a mischievous dog with a penchant for voraciously ingesting foreign objects, was the impetus behind Lauren’s aptly-titled Gold Award project, “My Dog Ate My Couch.” After personally accompanying her parents on numerous veterinary trips, Lauren realized most children adore pets, but lack knowledge about the responsibility of pet adoption, wellness and safety. To address this issue, Lauren wrote an informative book geared to prospective child/teen pet owners on pet safety education, which she distributed to several libraries and veterinary offices, along with creating a website and Facebook page with resourceful quick reference links.

An environmentalist and animal lover, Sarah combined these two passions to implement her project, “Got Bats.” Bats are misunderstood creatures and it was Sarah’s goal to educate people about their ability to help control the mosquito population naturally and the hazards they face from White Nose Syndrome. To help her audience understand more about the value of bats to our eco-system, she organized presentations incorporating videos and posters, designed a take-away pamphlet and developed a Facebook page. In addition, Sarah built and installed bat houses for the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary to help increase the population of the bats on Long Island. The staff at the Sanctuary will continue to monitor these houses.

Jennifer’s Gold project, “Sew What!” was all about teaching children the skill of sewing, the first step to being able to express themselves through the art of fashion design. Jennifer created clear and concise lesson plans and worksheets and then partnered with her local library to deliver sewing lessons geared to middle school aged girls in the community. To make her project sustainable, she posted all her worksheets on Pinterest and compiled them into books which she donated to the Girl Scout Council and the North Bellmore Library for others to use. Jennifer was pleased to see her students finish their final project on time using the skills and techniques she taught them.

Bianca’s Gold Award project, titled “This Test Does Not Define You,” aimed to reduce test-taking anxiety by providing test-taking tips. Along with presenting her project to students, Bianca also published a book that contained the message that self-worth is not associated with any test score.

Hoping to encourage others to lead a healthy lifestyle was the focus of Maribel’s Gold Award Project, “Healthy Mind. Healthy Body. Healthy You.” Knowing that limited time, insufficient resources and lack of motivation and money can inhibit people from leading a healthier lifestyle, Maribel set out to create a website, along with a series of videos which showed viewers how to make simple recipes, how to perform easy, do-at-home exercises, and how to keep a healthy mind. To promote her website and videos, and provide inspiration to others, Maribel developed social media pages and presented to each of the health classes at Sanford H. Calhoun High School.

Lifelong value comes with having earned a Gold Award. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, Gold Award recipients display more positive life outcomes pertaining to sense of self, life, satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service and civic engagement. Recipients of the award who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank for their achievements and can receive scholarships or other recognition from most colleges or universities.

Notable Gold Award recipients include Jan Hopkins, CNN financial news anchor, and Betsy Boze, Senior Fellow at American Association of State Colleges and Universities and President at Kent State University Stark.

We’re the Girl Scouts of Nassau County: We’re 23,000 strong – 23,000 girls and adults who believe every girl from Nassau County can change the world. It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low, who believed in the power of every girl. Today, we continue her vision of building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place by helping them discover their inner strength, passion and talents. And with programs in Nassau County, across Long Island and throughout the United States, there’s a chance for every girl to do something amazing. We’re the Girl Scouts. To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.gsnc.org or contact Donna Rivera-Downey at 516 741-2550.