Girl Scout Project Celebrates Veterans
The names, ranks and stories of 14 military veterans will have a permanent place in Warren Township. Francesca Salas, a Girl Scout and rising junior at Mount Saint Mary Academy, interviewed veterans, and recorded the service and sacrifices they made for our country, for her Gold Award project. The Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout can earn.
Francesca, a Warren resident, has honored these veterans with individual framed certificates placed in display cases with an American flag folded into a triangle.
On Flay Day, there was a ceremony to reveal the cases which hang in the Suzie B Boyce meeting room in the Warren municipal building. In attendance were all 14 veterans and their families, members of the Warren Lions Club, Watchung Hills Elks, local policemen, Brightview Senior Center veterans, and Chelsea veterans, members of the Township Committee, Township Administrator Mark Krane, Deputy Mayor Victor Sordillo, and Mayor George Lazo.
Francesca decided to do her Gold Award on veterans in appreciation for her deceased grandfather who served in the Navy.
“Honoring our veterans is something I felt our community needed,” said Francesca. “The most rewarding part of my Gold Project was showing up at Starbucks in town greeted by 10 veterans who were just waiting to tell me their stories and share their lives with me about their service to our country. This project has made a lasting impression on me.”
Deputy Mayor Victor Sordillo said “the display showed Salas’ dedication to the community and to our freedoms and what makes Warren New Jersey great!”
Township committeewoman Jolanta Maziarz remarked “the township needs more aspiring female leaders like Francesca Salas.”
Committeeman Gary DiNardo also praised Salas “for her effort to honor veterans which was greatly needed in our town and for bringing the community together on Flag Day.”
The Gold Award project was made possible with donations from the Lions Club and Watchung Hills Elks Lodge 885.
