Volunteer Connections by Girl Scouts of Nassau County

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!

Girl Scouts of Nassau County had our first Advocacy “ Call to Conversation” on May 12th! About 25 girls and parents put themselves on the frontline to help our Council move our Advocacy Agenda forward. It was an enlightening evening as we listened to the girls and heard the concerns of parents. Girl Scouts of the USA , our national organization, selected GSNC to be an Advocacy Champion Council last year. We are one of about 16 Councils across the country who are part of the 2009 wave of Councils working to give our girls a voice to speak out on issues of importance to them and to empower our girls to be ready to take action on these issues with elected officials and others who can help make changes. When girls and their parents entered the room there were pictures, newspapers and magazines all around the room highlighting the critical issues facing girls today. Issues like bullying and cyberbullying, some cases that have resulted in suicide. Ads with provocative and very thin gir...

“Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold …” is a recurring theme in Girl Scout land, and a pretty good motto for any of us who don’t want to go it alone in the world. In March and April we have been out and about keeping the Girl Scouts name in front, and having a great time connecting with some terrific people. Some are proven friends and supporters of the Girl Scout family, and others are great new people that I am anxious to get to know better, for work and for play! So, Hear! Hear! To making and keeping our friends … Over the past few weeks Girl Scouts has re-connected with all our Congressional Representatives that are part of Nassau County – Gary Ackerman, Steve Irael, Peter King, and Carolyn McCarthy! We thank each of them and their staff for making time for us. To Town of Oyster Bay Councilman Anthony Macagnone, and Council Woman Rebecca Alesia – Both of these hardworking elected officials got right to business helping the Girl Scouts make connect...