Girl Scouts Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award
Submitted by Kerry Rokicki
Six Girl Scouts of Cranford have been honored with the Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award for their dedication to the organization. To qualify for the honor, each met specific criteria which often included mentoring younger Girl Scouts or assisting other troops.
The 2021 Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award recipients are Rachael Durant, Lasairfhiona (Fiona) Iosso, Julia Love, Genevieve Marchesi, Erin Miklencic and Amanda Newport. Each received a $300 scholarship from Girl Scouts of Cranford Service Unit 48 in recognition of their achievement.
The Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award honors Ambassador Girl Scouts who were Girl Scouts for all four years of their high school careers, completed 50 hours of service for the organization during that time, and graduated with a minimum 3.0 GPA. The scholarship program was created several years ago to encourage leadership through service while also creating a stronger Girl Scout community.
“By adding their time and talents to our organization these young women have made our group stronger. Their efforts included assisting adult leaders, mentoring younger Girl Scouts, supporting town-wide programming and even working on behalf of the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey council. We are so proud that they chose to give back and lead by example,” said Elayna Torsone, manager of Cranford Service Unit 48. “We can’t wait to see where the future takes them.”
Amanda Newport will be attending the University of New Hampshire (Zoology), Erin Miklencic will attend Rowan University (Mechanical Engineering), Fiona Iosso will attend the Fashion Institute of Technology (Advertising and Marketing Communications), Rachael Durant will attend Holy Cross College (Psychology), Genevieve Marchesi will attend University of Delaware (Finance) and Julia Love will attend University of Pittsburgh (Special Education and Developmental Psychology). The young women were honored for their achievements at an awards ceremony held in June at the Cranford United Methodist Church.
The Girl Scouts of Cranford boasts over 1,139 Girl Scout Members in 71 troops and Juliettes making it one of the largest non-profit organizations in town. The Cranford Service Unit is a part of the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ) Council which is part of the Girl Scouts of the USA. If your family is interested in learning more about local Girl Scouts or to find out more information on the Girls Scouts of Cranford, please visit cranfordgirlscouts.com.
