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Girl Scouts honored for community service

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Girl Scouts from Seaford and Wantagh were honored for their community-service achievements at an awards ceremony on June 16. Among the projects was a big one for Bellmore Presbyterian Church.

The annual event was held at the St. Frances de Chantal Church auditorium in Wantagh. It began with a flag and flower ceremony for the Daisy Girl Scouts. The award recipients were then recognized for their hard work and received citations. After, they celebrated with a reception.

“It was an amazing night for the girls, and they really enjoyed the celebration,” Heidi Felix, the awards chairwoman, said.

To earn awards, Girl Scouts needed to complete a certain number of community-service hours: 15 for Bronze, 40 for Silver and 80 for Gold. Some 117 members were honored from 17 different troops. There were 99 Bronze award winners, 19 Silver winners and one Gold winner: 19-year-old Christine Parola.

“It was a fantastic feeling to be recognized,” Parola said. 

Many of the winners, including Parola, created their own community-service projects to complete the hours. Projects were designed with sustainability and leadership in mind, two important Girl Scout values.  

Parola built a website for Bellmore Presbyterian Church for her project. She said she wanted to give back to the place that has given so much to her since birth. The site launched on Aug. 28, 2015. Before this, Parola had never created a website before. She spent many hours reading up on it. After creating the site, she taught four parish community members how to run it so that the church could maintain its Internet presence for years to come. “I’m speechless at how amazing it all turned out,” she said.

At the ceremony, Felix spoke about Parola’s achievements at Wantagh High School, where she graduated in 2015, and at University of Delaware, where she now attends as a sophomore. She also explained Parola’s service project while Parola stood on stage, beaming.

“To see everyone’s faces light up when she was talking about my work was just amazing,” Parola said. She was thrilled not only to make an impact, but also to influence younger Girl Scouts.

Just a few of the various Bronze- and Silver-winning projects involved building shelters for feral cats, creating a buddy bench for Seaford Manor Elementary School, making clothing and food donations, and working with people with disabilities. 

Sixteen graduating seniors were also honored at the ceremony, including Felix’s daughter, Heather. Felix was a troop leader for 14 years and felt proud to see the girls she led since Daisies all grown up and graduating from Girl Scouts. 

“It’s such a good feeling that they stayed here this whole time. It’s something we took pride in as leaders because there are so many things pulling them in high school,” she said.

While Heather is graduating, Felix may return to help out in the future, she said. Community service and Girl Scouts hold special places in her heart. People often ask her why she puts in so much time and energy into scouts, and the answer is simple.

 “At the end of the day, seeing the smiles on the girls’ faces and being recognized for their achievements makes it worthwhile,” she said. “This is why I do what I do.”