Thursday, April 9, 2015

Girl Scouts Recognized with Volunteer Achievement Awards

This year, Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast is proud to have Girl Scouts selected by a panel of community judges to receive achievement awards from VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads. The recipients are Girl Scout Ambassador Lauren from Newport News and four members of Troop 629 from Chesapeake- Talia, Nicole, Darielle and Alyssa.

Lauren was nominated the project she did to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, which aimed to reverse the small percentage of minorities and females participating in the fields of aviation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Read more about her project here. Lauren has also led two other large-scale community service projects. Lauren helped to organize a tutoring program to help local youth pass their standardized tests and she also lead a food drive at her school that resulted in significant food and monetary donations for local food pantries. These two community service projects were funded in part by two separate grants from Disney that Lauren applied for.

The members of Girl Scout Troop 629 were nominated for their Girl Scout Silver Award project. To earn the Silver Award, Talia, Nicole, Darielle and Alyssa taught local citizens about the history of Chesapeake in coordination with the 50th anniversary of the city. Read more about their project here. In addition to this work, the girls in Troop 629 have spent time at Dominion Village Assisted Living Facility in Chesapeake, where they read to the residents, lead games, conduct musical performances and more. The troop also participates in the annual food drive at Deep Creek United Methodist Church and the annual GSCCC Helping Hands Food Drive.

The Hampton Roads VOLUNTEER Achievement Awards, which are conducted annually, recognize the region's most outstanding volunteers based on their length of service, initiative and impact on the community. Lauren, Talia, Nicole, Darielle and Alyssa are being recognized alongside men, women and other youth who have inspiring stories that encourage others to serve.

All of this year's Hampton Roads VOLUNTEER Achievement Award will be honored during a ceremony on Wednesday, April 15 at the Founders Inn and Spa in Virginia Beach. Tickets for this dinner and awards ceremony are $50 each and can be purchased online here.