Eighth-grade Girl Scouts from Troop 400, Emma S. from East Moriches, Emily B. from Center Moriches, and Chloe K. from Center Moriches, recently built a music pavilion at Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck earning them the Silver Award.

The Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout cadette can earn.  It requires them to improve their community and devote at least 50 hours to a sustainable project.

“The girls have been planning and raising money for this project for some time,” troop leader Nicole Stork said, explaining that they have been selling items and cookies to raise funds for the project. “They also held a car wash last summer.”

Community sponsors of the project include Craftsman Fence Co. of East Moriches, Druek’s True Value of Center Moriches, Jimmy Osborne Music of Center Moriches, Family Melody Center of Patchogue, The Home Depot of Shirley, Muriel Corcoran of East Moriches, and Carole Lesselbaum of East Moriches.

“We are so blessed to have such a generous and supporting community!” she said.

Why did they choose the project?

The girls said they wanted to make a difference in the community and bring people together. The musical sound garden, they explained, would do just that for the camp. And so, after receiving approval from the camp’s executive director, Alyssa Pecorino, and the board, the girls got to work, spending many weekends contacting companies, writing letters, gathering materials, building, painting and installing.

“As their troop leader, I am very proud of them; these three girls are role model community leaders at just 14 years old, very impressive,” Stork said.

The girls plan to share their project and how they made the musical sound garden with other Girl Scouts within the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County community, with hopes of getting others to think big, create, and make a difference in their communities as well.