Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Elizabeth Nunciato of Hamburg, NY, as a 2023 Gold Award Girl Scout.

Project: Warm Hugs For Roswell

My project “Warm Hugs For Roswell” was a project that was started in honor of my dad Mark Nunciato. He had a year long battle with cancer before passing away due to related health complications. While he was alive he would often have to spend a lot of time away from home and from family. I remember the long nights of waiting for my parents to get home from Roswell Park Cancer Institute. I would watch the sun set out my window waiting and wondering how he was feeling. A few months after he passed I had gotten inspired to go for my gold award in his memory. I had always told him I wanted to do it all, I just never felt like I had enough time on this earth to accomplish my goals. I realized that I was lucky to have the time I do have, and decided to use that time to help others. I had called the resource center at Roswell Park and asked if they needed any supplies. As my mom had told me about how much they helped her during those long, full day visits. I talked to a woman named Martha Hickey, and she accepted my proposal for delivering 30 handmade blankets to the facility. About half a month later I met with my advisor Patti Raab. I cannot give her enough praise as she was extremely helpful and thoughtful about my situation and inspirations throughout this entire project. Me and my group of family and friend volunteers quickly got to work over the next couple months. Cutting, tying, and crocheting these full size blankets. After months of work I was finally able to reconnect with Martha to drop off the blankets to the resource center. In the end we ended up with 45 blankets to drop off. While the drop off day was very hectic I did get a chance to sit down and talk to some of the employees of the resource center. They told me that they were so happy to have more blankets to give and lend out to patients and there family while they stayed at Roswell. What really touched my heart was that after telling my story about my father and how this project helped keep me going throughout all the grief I was feeling. I was given a red caretaker heart pin by the staff, for those I was helping to take care of now, and for all the love and care I had given my dad. While many tears were shed that day, the one thing that made me smile was seeing one of the patients on the way out wrapping themselves up in one of the blankets I had made.

About the Girl Scout Gold Award

The Gold Award project is the culmination of all the work a girl puts into “going for the Gold.” A Girl Scout’s project should be something that a girl can be passionate about—in thought, deed, and action that encompasses organizational, leadership, and networking skills. The project should also fulfill a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global) and create change that has the potential to be on-going or sustainable. Approximately 80 hours of community service are involved in the project. Completion of the Gold Award also qualifies the Girl Scout for special scholarship opportunities and she can enlist in the military at a higher starting pay grade.The Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award in the world for girls, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. These young women are courageous leaders and visionary change makers.The Gold Award requires a Girl Scout to identify an issue and investigate it to understand what can be done to address the problem. The girl then forms a team to act as a support system, including a project advisor close to the issue who is not a troop leader or family member, while she leads the project. The Girl Scout creates a plan to ensure they know what steps they must tackle while working on the project. The Girl Scout submits a proposal for her project to her local Girl Scout council. After acceptance, the girl begins to work through the steps of their plan utilizing the assistance of her support team where necessary. Lastly, the project is used to educate and inspire others about the cause they are addressing.For more information on the Gold Award, click here.