Smithtown, Commack Girl Scouts Earn Silver Award

COMMACK, NY — Girl Scouts from Commack and Smithtown recently earned the prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award — the highest honor a Cadette Scout can reach — and were celebrated during the annual Silver Award Ceremony and Breakfast, the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County announced.

The ceremony included a keynote address by Rosalie Drago, the commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Labor Licensing and Consumer Affairs.

Members of the Commack Service Unit 615 and Smithtown Service Unit 625; Isabel Figueroa, Samantha Simson, Chloe Nuccio, Lauren Deyulio , Alessandra De Stefano, Mayah Dutta, Nicole Roemer, Kylie Schutte, Allison Hernandez and Emily Cabello, were among those acknowledged.

"The Silver Award is the highest distinction that Girl Scouts in this age range can earn," said Tammy Severino, president and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. "It takes a great deal of responsibility, dedication, and confidence for these Girls to complete these important projects as they create a notable positive impact in their community. I applaud these girls' commitment to making a difference and joining a highly distinguished group of accomplished young women."

Girl Scouts, to earn their Silver Award, each tackled a project that held a deep significance to them and would greatly benefit the world around them. To be eligible for a Silver Award, each recipient must complete their Cadette Journey before beginning their Silver Award project. To meet the Girl Scout Silver Award requirements, each candidate must complete at least 50 hours toward their project.

Girls in grades 6-8 begin their Silver Award journey by identifying a civic or social issue they care about. Next, a Girl Scout builds a team to support her project with the mission to create a positive impact in her community by addressing an issue she feels passionate about. Through the process, Silver Award Girl Scouts build invaluable problem-solving, organizational, and leadership skills while educating and inspiring others.

Isabel Figueroa, Samantha Simson, and Chloe Nuccio created hand-made cards for school children to decorate during the coronavirus pandemic. The cards were given to bus drivers to acknowledge and thank them for getting the kids to school safely each day.

Lauren Deyulio and Alessandra De Stefano built much-needed cat trees to be used for hundreds of rescue animals at the Northport Cat Rescue.

Mayah Dutta, Nicole Roemer, and Kylie Schutte built a 15’ x 68’ garden fence for the Suffolk County JCC’s community garden, which provides fresh produce through the JCC pantry to those in need.

For her project, Allison Hernandez built 12 bluebirds houses for Hoyt Farm in Smithtown to help with the decreasing population of blue birds.

Emily Cabello hosted a Children's Book Drive to support early childhood development and for children to have access to books. She collected more than 2,300 books that were distributed throughout Long Island Head Start Centers.