Finaldi sisters earn the Girl Scout Gold Awards

Both girls choose projects that served seniors WEST MILFORD — Jessica and Lauren Finaldi, twin sisters and members of the Lenni-Lenape Council of Girls Scouts, USA were recently awarded the highest honor of girl scouting, the Gold Award. The award represents twelve years of scouting and four years of skill development promoting leadership and a sense of community in the individual. The sisters’ projects, though separate, both involved the West Milford senior community. Jessica developed her project for the Lincoln Hill Senior Residence. “My idea came from the fact that my Nana recently had to leave her hometown and move to West Milford to be closer to our family. Everything familiar to her was gone and she had to develop a whole new network of friends and support services. I began to think that her circumstances were common to many seniors and wanted to develop a booklet to familiarize new senior residents to the area.” With the help of the Lincoln Hill social director and the Hillcrest Community Center, Jessica created a large print booklet of area businesses and services. Now when new residents arrive at Lincoln Hill, they will receive a copy of this booklet to assist them in getting acquainted with the township, local senior programs and possibly even promote a social network. Lauren’s project was developed for VanDyk at Bald Eagle Commons, her employer. “I’ve had a love for seniors ever since Sr. Janet of St. Joseph Church invited my sisters and me to visit the residents of Milford Manor and play bingo more than 10 years ago. Additionally, I’ve been raised to value the tradition and history of food so it was a no brainer to combine the two. My project involved creating a recipe book from recipes submitted by the residents of VanDyk at Bald Eagle. The book, titled “Food Matters” included facts about where the recipe originated and memories of holidays or family get-togethers brought to mind by the food.” The project culminated in a food tasting event in which the residents, Chef Dan of VanDyk and Lauren prepared all the recipes in the book. As with any successful project, there are many people who helped. Eckerd Pharmacy and Shear Dimension sponsored Jessica. Lauren’s sponsorship came from VanDyk at Bald Eagle. Both girls give credit to Girl Scout leaders who volunteered over the past 12 years. Jess and Lauren agreed, “If we’ve learned anything, we’ve learned opportunities to help others give meaning to your life.”