Girl Scout Council Honors Volunteers From Newtown

At a special recognition ceremony, the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut honored outstanding adult volunteers with both council and national Girl Scouts of the USA awards.

The GSUSA Outstanding Volunteer Award for service beyond expectations for a particular position was presented to Audrey DeBlasio, Carol Fullman, Selena Henderson, and Maxine Mangiafico.

The Council’s Outdoor Enthusiast Award for outstanding outdoor education went to Paul Mangiafico. In addition to being a camp medic, Mr Mangiafico serves as a trained archery instructor and low ropes course facilitator for the Girl Scout Council.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Girl Scout Movement. Through their generous commitment of time and talent they help make the Girl Scout program affordable and accessible at the local level to a wide variety of interested girls from 5 to 17 years of age. Because of a core of outstanding volunteers, almost one in every five girls in that age bracket in the Council’s 15 Fairfield County towns and cities is a Girl Scout.

Male and female Girl Scout leaders undergo extensive training to assure program safety, consistency, and quality. At little or no cost, leaders are schooled in first aid and CPR, as well as innovative crisis, antibullying, and communication techniques. Consequently they claim the training gave them the confidence, knowledge, and enthusiasm to share their skills eagerly with the girls they serve.

Girl Scout volunteers — leaders, trainers, service unit support, outdoor volunteers, board and committee members — serve at many positions and organizational levels to make the comprehensive Girl Scout program run smoothly for more than 9,000 girls in the council’s jurisdiction. Many were recognized recently for their important work.

The Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut is very grateful to the more than 2,500 adult volunteers in its 15 Fairfield County towns and cities of Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton for their essential and very personal assistance.