Volunteer Connections by Girl Scouts of Nassau County

While much of the world is in holiday mode for Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the New Year, Girl Scouts of Nassau County is getting ready to kick-off the 2011 Girl Scout Cookie Program as soon as we return from our end-of-the-year break. While some folks are tracking Santa and his progress in Toyland, the elves that we care most about are those at Little Brownie Bakers (corporate cousins of the other baker elves who live in a Hollow Tree). Our elves are busy baking Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Do-si-dos, Tagalongs and Lemon Chalet Cremes …

Across the country and here in our community people look forward to the Girl Scout Cookie Program. The cookies are delicious, and seeing the girls out in the community helps to remind the public of our outstanding organization. This year, order taking will begin the first week in January, and Girl Scout Cookies® will be available through booths sales until mid April. Cookie rallies will be held at Roosevelt Field on Saturday, Jan. 8, at Green A

Girl scouting has never been more needed than today. Research shows that girls who maintain self-confidence, who have strong values and who have other girls and adults to whom they can turn to for advice and comfort are more likely to succeed in school and in life. 
 
 Girls today often live under pressure. Their parents and schools expect high performance – in academics, on the playing fields and in extracurricular activities. Friends want them to conform. The media lures girls with images of beauty that are unreal and unobtainable, and bombards them with music, fast food, stories and constant electronic connections that give them so many confusing messages on how to look, behave and be their best selves. In other words, girls today are under a lot of pressure. 
 
 This pressure and stress can directly affect a girl's physical, social and emotional health. Some girls eat too much, or too little. Others engage in behaviors that range from unproductive to unwise, to situations that

I still keep Sarah Van Breathnach’s book Simple Abundance beside my bed. It’s a wonderful reminder and tool for counting my many blessings. There is something meaningful and real when we take time to write down things in our lives that matter, and it is a practice that I highly recommend. November seems to be a time when we all try to focus on being thankful. The Thanksgiving holiday helps us to remember how much we have, and invites us to gi ve back to those who are in need. The Girl Scout Promise teaches us to serve God and country and help people at all times. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the whole year. I like that it brings together family and friends, with no need to buy presents. I can go to worship if I chose, but no strict requirement. I fly my flag, but don’t need to make a patriotic speech. There are lots of foods that I like. And I get to do two of my favorite things – set the big table and put out the holiday towels! In my own life there are so many b

“That is SO GAY.” “That outfit is SO GAY.” “YOU are SO GAY.” These are the jeers of the schoolyard hurled between kids too young to know or understand what it is to be gay. They are the insults flung out there, to their peers, to each other. It starts early. It starts young. And even if you don’t know what it means, you know it is meant to hurt. So at very young ages kids are picking up those verbal arrows and tucking them neatly away in their arsenal for use upon others, when needed. If you are the adult hearing those words, what are you doing or saying? Are you choosing to ignore the insults? In your mind, is this just another case of kids being kids? Or, do you stand there and meekly say to the perpetrator “Stop that. That’s not nice.” Well, what’s not nice? Is it the verbal attack or being gay? In view of the recent suicides of male teens, identified or perceived as gay, across our country over the past few weeks, adults are not doing enough to address the playground taunts of boys

The Boy Scouts of America are celebrating their 100th Anniversary this year and the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and I wish them well! This coming weekend the Theodore Roosevelt Council – our Boy Scout neighbors here in Nassau County, NY – will be having a big Centennial Jamboree at Eisenhower Park. I’ve been hearing about this for months from Scout Executive Dave Richardson, as well as from GSNC Staffers Alice and Lorraine, who also volunteer for BSA with their sons. It sounds like such a huge undertaking – boys in tents, activities, food, fires, entertainment! Dave has invited me to be a VIP guest on Saturday, and I can’t wait to see it all in action -- We wish them all the best and hope that they have fair weather and no surprises! Last weekend Boy Scouts of Suffolk County celebrated at Camp Hero in Montauk where they passed their 100th Anniversary Lantern to the girls in Anne Gherardi’s Troop from the Bay Association of GSNC. We were delighted that Troop 208 was part of this meani

We wanted to share this video from MyLITV.com/FiOS1 with you about Mags&Munchies - Operation: Stop Hunger on Long Island . Enjoy!

2100 feet below the Earth's surface, 33 trapped miners wait in darkness to be plucked from what might have been their grave. Surviving for 17 days on rations meant for two, 32 Chileans and a Bolivian refused to surrender to the death that gleefully awaited them – each ingesting only a spoon-full of tuna fish and a little milk every 48 hours so that all would have an equal chance to live. With resolve and dignity, they said “no” to a fate that had never before taken “no” for an answer. And so they live, still. With no cause for hope, they kept hoping – and made sure the rescue party found them. With no reason to believe they would emerge alive from the rocky jaws of the mountain that had engulfed them, they kept believing – and politely asked for toothbrushes instead of last rites. How absurd of them! Yet, right before our eyes, the absurd becomes sacred; ordinary miners, nobility. 

In a world poisoned by pettiness, vanity, and mindless consumerism, where image trumps reputation, a

Just like the color of your skin, the color of your eyes, how tall you are or how short you are, your weight is…On the hoof; everyone sees it. And when everyone sees it, everyone can make a comment. And when you start to comment on a particular group and what they look like, you start to point fingers, create an opportunity for ridicule, and make a particular group a target. That makes me, uncomfortable. Targeting fat kids, is not that different than proclaiming that every willowy, lithe, middle school girl, is secretly sticking her finger down her throat or subsisting on a few lettuce leaves and steamed broccoli. Every child has a right to good health; physical, mental and emotional. We should be raising awareness on childhood “health promotion” and how we can each be part of it. The Girl Scout Research Institute has produced two studies, Weighing In: Helping Girls be Healthy Today, Healthy Tomorrow (2004) and The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living (2006.) The studi

It’s been years since I had heard so many lilting “Yes, Ma’m’s” as last month when I attended the orientation session for the University of Alabama School of Commerce and Business Administration’s Women’s Initiative Program. I’m delighted to be a mentor in this program and I’ve already met dozens of interesting and accomplished professional women who are sharing their time with students. I’m looking forward to learning from the other mentors and the students. Some of the mentors were more seasoned, like me, others seemed to be in the mid-points of their careers, and several were young women who have benefited from the Women’s Initiative Program as mentees in recent years and are ready and able to pay it forward. (Think how our Girl Scouts value getting to work with college girls and those who are just starting their careers.) The young women in the program are all either Juniors or Seniors in B-School, with varying majors and concentrations - accounting, finance, marketing, etc. Thr

A Mags&Munchies Prize Goodie Bag is yours to win! Starting Monday, 10/11 for three weeks (end date of 10/29) the Girl Scouts of Nassau County will be raffling off a weekly Mags&Munchies Prize Goodie Bag filled with Gummi Berries, Three Pack (honey roasted cashews, spicy peanuts and wasabi almonds), Snack Depot Tin (chocolate covered pretzels), Girl Scout Lantern Tin (Mint Meltaways) and White Chocolate Covered Pretzel Balls. It’s easy to enter, here’s how! Tag* the Girl Scouts of Nassau County Facebook page within your Facebook status and mention the Mags&Munchies Program. The more times you update your Facebook status tagging the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and talking about the Mags&Munchies Program, the more times you will be entered into the raffle to win the prize! Status updates will be tallied starting each Monday at 12 noon through that week’s consecutive Friday at 12 noon. A random winner will be picked each Friday at 1pm and announced via the Girl Scouts of

Hopefully by now you've had the talk. Not once, but as an on-going discussion with constant reinforcement. I am writing, of course, about your child’s responsibility to do the right thing. The airwaves, the cyberworld and the print media are rife with information about sexting and texting, cyberbullying, social bullying and just plain overall meanness. There is a lot of angst out there about just who’s responsibility it is to make sure your child does not suffer at the hands of a bully - overtly, covertly, anonymously or in plain view. Parents expect the schools to address it; schools say it all starts at home. Our policy makers have jumped into the fray and are desperately trying to legislate behaviors, responsibility and culpability. The bottom line is: We all have a responsibility to fully understand what bullying is; where and when it happens. We need to look at the way we each think about bullying and understand what action, re-action, or inaction does within a bullying

In 2012, we will celebrate 100 Years of Girl Scouting. As we look ahead to the next 100 years of scouting we can’t help but look back and remember the journey we have taken to reach this milestone and celebrate the women that helped start this amazing adventure called Girl Scouts. Plans are underway to make this the biggest celebration that Girl Scouts has ever seen. To start the celebration, Girl Scouts of Nassau County is compiling a 100th Anniversary Cookbook which will be sold beginning at GirlFest 2011. We need your help to make this project a success! In our effort to make a difference and share our vision of a healthy attitude towards food, as part of our Healthy Living initiative, we are gathering healthy recipes from our membership. What is a healthy recipe? To me it means no additives and preservatives, no ingredients that aren’t natural. Good old fashioned whole food! Flour, sugar and salt are all natural ingredients…so I challenge you all to send us YOUR healthy recipes.

Bullying is not just someone else’s problem; it affects all of us. Every child has a right to an education, and bullying denies that right. A child constantly subjected to fear, threats, humiliation, and physical abuse is in no condition to learn. The school thus becomes, in the bullied child’s mind, a prison; and the child’s psychological state is reduced to that of a terrorized captive – whose main goal is not learning, but rather escaping from the incessant torture committed at the bus stop, in the playground, on the Internet, in the cafeteria, and even in the classroom. Emotional and physical survival become the only priorities, and all else gets cast to the wayside. In extreme cases, suicide becomes a distinct possibility. Of course, the bullied child understands none of this – anxiety not being particularly conducive to reflection. The experience of being bullied is both immediate and concrete. In any case, prolonged exposure to bullying can cause life-long scars and the

What happens when you give a group of Girl Scouts and their friends with little or no experience, tools, and tell them to help build a house for a week? You get a 60' x 5’ sidewalk trench, a full room of sheet rock and hundreds of square feet of newly hung siding. Well, at least that is what happened when Valley Stream Girl Scout Troop 2053 , led by Lorraine Pergola and JoAnn Scala, spent the week working for Habitat for Humanity in Salem, New Jersey. After years together as a troop, the girls decided that they wanted to do something meaningful before they went their separate ways and with everyone entering either college or senior year of high school, this would be the last chance to do something together as a group. They decided that with the money they had raised from years of cookie sales that they wanted to do something that would introduce them to a new experience while helping those in need at the same time. Habitat for Humanity was the obvious choice as it offered a great

Being a girl has been a different row to hoe for females across the years, and across cultures and continents. In many ways today girls in twenty-first century USA have reached parity with males and even moved ahead in a few areas. But the pressure to succeed, to meet the expectations set for girls by their parents, their schools, their peers and the relentless onslaught of the media to look and act and consume in certain proscribed ways has never been as rough for girls as it is today. When girls lack confidence and courage they are more at risk for their physical, social and emotional health. The obesity crisis rises up against the pandering of the media for girls to grow up too quickly, to buy things that they do not need, to conform to images of beauty that may be totally unreal and unattainable. When girls do not feel confident and safe, they are more likely to miss school, and engage in behaviors that put themselves and their communities at risk. Girl Scouts are addressing thes

It was a dark and stor my night on Wedne sday even ing, July 21, the last night of C amp Blue Bay’s Session #2. An alleged water spout traveled through Gardiners Bay on the East End of Long Island, wrecking havoc on the Springs section of East Ha mpton, and hitting our property. Rains pour e d and winds blew. Trees fell over. When the storm passed after less than a half hour, the Camp was dark. Very dark. First, as the storm began, our staff acted quickly to move all the girls inside t he Activity Building for their safety. All of the girls and staff remained safe throughout the night. The storm too k out power and phone service. A few staff were able to use their ce ll phones, but then the power outage rendered the cell phone towers out of service. The Counselors kept th e girls singing for hours and hours , until they fell asleep on the floor. Some girls were a little shaken, but everyone of them was safe and well, and they have the stories to tell for many years to co

About 105 Daisy to Senior Girl Scouts are volunteering their time throughout the summer and into the fall at The Farm in Oyster Bay. They are helping plant seeds and plants, weed, stake up tomatoes, harvest the produce, and anything else that needs to be done! They are learning what it takes to maintain a tremendous Community Organic Garden! In the Girl Scout tradition, we will be donating our bounty to those in need, tasting some new veggies, and feeding the local rabbits. On May 15, 2010 we had “Dig It Day”, our kick off event, where the girls & leaders got a tour, heard what was expected, and planted some perennials, potatoes, and bush beans. As one parent said, “Where else but Girl Scouts can a girl get this experience ?” After a morning spent in the garden, everyone enjoyed the beautiful day with a picnic lunch. Since then Troops have been tending to the garden on their designated weeks at The Farm. Under the direction of 5th generation caretaker, Amanda Roberts, everyone is

This has been a difficult week at Girl Scouts of Nassau County. When we came to work on Tuesday after the holiday weekend we were dumbfounded to hear that our colleague and friend Debbie Capps had passed away. Debbie was 51 years young. Debbie had worked since 1999 in GSNC’s Information Technology Department, when we were still in our technology infancy. Debbie was a whiz with computers and quickly became a jack of all trades. In her early days here she maintained our website, worked on hardware when needed, and made sure that all staff knew how to use the software on our desks. Over the years she was promoted to Data Base Administrator; working with E-Council, she made sure that all of our data was managed safely and securely and that we could get the reports we needed. When our Fall Products and Cookie Programs went to online ordering it was Debbie who led the way. She generously re-arranged her work hours, had her phone calls forwarded to her home, and during the Product Program

Summertime, summertime...finally, we’ve reached the point in the year where we can kick back and relax. Think summer breezes at the shore, gardens blooming, and the coolness of a shaded trail. As life slows down, for the rest of us, the Girl Scouts of Nassau County are busy with summertime activities! We hope you’ll join us for some summertime fun... Girl Scout Daisies can make sun prints and use magnifying glasses to investigate nature at our Lazy Daisy Days of Summer program in late July. Bats are back in our area, you can see them in the evening as they snatch mosquitoes from the air. At Tackapausha Preserve, Brownies will earn Go Batty! and hear why these creatures are so important to our environment. Juniors will earn Your Outdoor Surroundings when they visit with us at Sagamore Hill following in the environmental footsteps of our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. Seniors and Ambassadors can participate in our Fire Island Adventure as you canoe with us off the shores of

It's Award Season in Girl Scouts...Patches and pins are being awarded and the metallic theme of Bronze, Silver and Gold abounds. Each community has their own way of celebrating the girls' accomplishments. Some have them walk across wooden bridges; others have tea parties or large community gatherings. Some invite politicians and others invite only family members. Each celebration is special and will be remembered by the girls. One special ceremony for our girls is the Gold Award and Eagle Scout recognition ceremony by the County Executive. This annual event is a way for County Executive Edward Mangano to recognize these Scouts for earning the highest recognition in their Scouting organization. He also is recognizing the value of their service to Nassau County. Yesterday, Mr. Mangano took time out of his busy schedule to greet these young men and women; he commemorated their accomplishment with an official citation and picture. This is the part the parents love! 210 boys earned

There's still time to donate to Operation Cookie. Send a case or box of Cookies to our military troops overseas and remind them that we're thinking of them. To provide a taste of home simply visit www.gsnc.org and look for the Operation Cookie logo! In the meantime, here are a few videos we recently took regarding Operation Cookie!