Volunteer Connections by Girl Scouts of Nassau County

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...