Troop 679 has earned their Bronze Award

First Lady of Virginia, Pam Northam, congratulated Troop 679 on their Bronze Award project during a special ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, September 9, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach.

For their project, “Children’s Garden,” the girls created a garden complete with fruits, vegetables, herbs and other plants within the newly established “God’s Garden Path” at the church.

“God’s Garden was created by the church members, community support, and the Girl Scouts to protect our watershed,” Northam stated. She also referred to Troop 679 as explorers and innovators.

Maury Joy, a member of the church and a master gardener served as the group’s mentor during their project. Creating the garden helped the girls learn more about companion planting, the close planting of different plants that enhance each other’s growth or protect each other from pests.

“This project brought us together as stewards of our Earth,” Joy said. “The garden provides a filter to slow and clean the water through the plants that are growing here.”

The girls also used their project as a teaching opportunity. They held a week-long summer camp at the church to educate kids on the watershed, run-off and other issues affecting our waterways.

Additionally, they gained communication and teamwork skills that will last a lifetime!

“We worked together to focus on different things,” Girl Scout Cadette Cailyn Gregory said.

The garden will continue to provide educational opportunities year round to students at the day school and vacation Bible school in the summer.