Five Girl Scouts from Como Lake Troop 37102 recently earned their Girl Scout Silver Awards. The Girl Scout Silver Award takes roughly 50 hours to complete and can be done individually, as a pair, or as a small group. To read the full requirements of the Silver Award, click here. The below stories were provided by the girls’ troop leader.

Anna Winnicki earned her Silver Award by completing her project individually. She decided to take on The Sensible Source’s Pad Project. Normally, her Girl Scout Service Unit (a geographic grouping of local Girl Scout troops) would host an event to pack menstrual care items, but due to the pandemic, this was not possible. Anna decided to step up and take on the work herself. She was able to work independently at her home packing one-gallon bags with one month of supplies. Troops in Como Lake Service Unit donated supplies.  Anna’s Leader, Maryann Gramza, assisted in buying supplies. Anna’s mom made a wish list to get donations. Ann Germanow, the Founder of “Sensible Source” provided guidance and disposal bags for the kits.

Anna donated her kits to the Lancaster Youth Bureau and Resurrection Food Pantry. (Fellow Girl Scouts Hailey Prowse and Kayli McIsaac, also from Troop 37102, assembled menstrual care kits that were donated to Response to Love and Nativity Miguel as a Service  Project.) About 400 kits were donated in total.

Madison Massaro and Johnica Rosa-Mutignani worked together to complete their Silver Award. Their project involved making dog and cat collars for the SPCA Serving Erie County, NY. To begin, they toured the facility to get ideas for a project.  They decided that they wanted to make something that adopted dogs and cats could leave the facility with for use at their new home. They used YouTube to get ideas and settle on a process for creating the collars. It just so happened that a nearby sewing store was closing. They were able to get discounts and donations for their project. Their troop leader, Maryann Gramza, provided them with machines and guidance with their sewing. Johnica and Madison donated over 100 collars when they attended the Animal Helper Badge with their Troop at the SPCA. (Photos are pre-COVID.)

Kailey Allen’s Silver Award Project was called “Increasing Literacy in My Community.” Kailey worked closely with the Librarian at Depew Middle School on projects to keep the library organized and running smoothly for students. She also volunteered at the Lancaster Public Library in the children’s section and for the annual book sale. Kailey sorted donations and spent time volunteering at the sale. She dedicated her time in the children’s section helping kids choose books for purchase and replenishing materials as needed. Kailey has a strong passion for promoting libraries.

Eva Shurmatz’s Silver Award project was called “Hope for Horses.” Eva has been volunteering at Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue located in Clarence. She saw that there were so many needs at the facility. (This was before COVID and their needs are even greater now.) Eva established ongoing bottle/can drives to purchase items for the barn and a recycling program at William Street School.

To submit your girl’s or troop’s Higher Award stories for publication on our social media or blog, please submit photos and details to communications@gswny.org. (Please note this is not the same as the submission process for completing a Higher Award. All paperwork must be finalized with the GSWNY Girl Experience Department. Questions? Please contact customercare@gswny.org.)