HILLSBOROUGH: Ten local Girl Scouts gain Gold Award

   Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey presented 137 young women with Girl Scouting’s highest honor — the Gold Award — at a dinner at the Bridgewater Manor Bridgewater on Sunday, June 3.
   The honorees were from the council’s seven-county region, which includes Hudson, Essex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon, southern Warren and parts of Middlesex.
   Here are the 10 girls from Hillsborough, with their project names:
   • Anna Brilliant, “Just Keep Living 24/7;”
   • Lauren Capano, “Hope Bracelets”;
   • Mary Dombrowski, “Hillsborough High School Spanish Club”;
   • Nicole Gambardella, “A Safe Haven”;
   • Sara Elizabeth Jess, “Assisting SAVE Animal Rescue”;
   • Crystal Komoroski, “Crystal’s Confidence Dance Class”;
   • Pooja Malhotra, “Safety First”;
   • Jessica Nunn, “Blankets if Comfort”;
   • Kara Rogers, “Manna Café Youth Involvement” and
   • Regina Santangelo, “Drunk Driving Awareness.”
   From Belle Mead:
   • Divya Dang, “Computer Resource Center for Senior Citizens”
   • Penelope Quinton, “Connections: A Journey of Understanding”
   • Colleen Ridder, “Four Paws; Two Eyes; One Goal: Seeing Eye”
   • Apeksha Shah, “Excel with Fun! After-school program for special needs.”
   For the Gold Award, girls must complete leadership projects by committing a minimum of 65 hours to planning, and executing the project.
      About 6 percent of Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors nationwide earn the Gold Award.
   The scope of projects vary widely, from installing specialized park equipment for the handicapped and the installation of a fence to protect it, to the authorship and publication of a book about veterans, their wartime experiences and acts of courage.
   The keynote speech was delivered by Dawn Fitch, president of Pooka Pure and Simple, a handmade bath and body company, and also founder of Beauty That Cares, a company with a financial model empowering girls and women to create their own businesses.
’For information on Girl Scouts or to volunteer, call 908-518-4400 or visit www.gshnj.org. Direct inquiries about the Gold Award to Sue DeCarlo at [email protected].