Stopping Vandalism: Local Girl Scouts promote positive choices

Published 2:00 pm Friday, June 27, 2014

Girl scouts (from left) Carly Barker, Emily Mezzanares, Abby Bozeman, and Madeline Gonzalze give a presentation about decision making at the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library in Brookhaven Thursday

Girl scouts (from left) Carly Barker, Emily Mezzanares, Abby Bozeman, and Madeline Gonzalze give a presentation about decision making at the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library in Brookhaven Thursday

Kids Kingdom Park was a dream come true in 2005. Children crowded the sand box and slides, happy to have a park in the area. But since then, vandalism has taken over. The Brookhaven Girl Scouts Troop 5108 took action.

“Vandalism has a big impact,” said Emily Mezzanares. “Once it’s done you can’t take it back.”

The troop spoke with Terry Reid, director of the Brookhaven Recreation department about the problem at the park. The troop originally wanted to help fix the park, but Reid advised them to search for a different route. They regrouped and decided to tackle the issue from a different angle.

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“We decided to promote non-vandalism,” said Mezzanares. “We thought a video and dance would be fun.”

The girls showed the video and dance at the Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library Thursday. The performance focused on making good decision.

The troop explained that small choices people make can have a significant impact on their future.

“I’m so proud of them,” said troop leader Celeste Carty. “When they all pull together they can do good.” She added that the girls wrote the script, shot and edited the movie, they made the contacts with community members and they put together the entire production.

The project works toward the troop’s silver award. The award is for scouts who show dedication in improving their community. To qualify, Troop 5108 spent 10 hours in community service and developed a plan to tackle an issue that affects Brookhaven.

The next step is the gold award. The scouts are currently working on proposals for a variety of community service projects that they will be presenting to the Girl Scouts Gold Award Board including: hosting a sports camp for special needs children, building a blue bird trail, creating and distributing weather baskets and compiling cookbooks for under-privileged families and various other projects.

Members of Troop 5108 include: Carly Barker, Abby Bozeman, Sarah Doty, Madeline Gonzalze, Emily Mezzanares, Hannah Punds and Carlye Waldon.