44°
NORTH SALEM, N.Y. North Salem's latest Girl Scout Gold Award honorees, Linda DosSantos and Kelsey Goslin, received unusual rewards to commemorate their accomplishments. Each girl was given an American flag that had flown atop Washington's Capitol building on her birthday.
To earn her Gold Award, which equates to a Boy Scout's Eagle rank, DosSantos spent a year-and-a-half collecting funds and donations to prepare 100 Dog Care Emergency Packages to be given to veterans who acquire therapy dogs through Pets for Vets.
Each package contained disposable gloves, bandages, cotton, towelettes, ointments, dog biscuits, dry food, water and an Emergency Rescue sticker.
The packages were delivered to five locations. The emergency kits were received with gratitude by the adoptive soldiers, DosSantos has since heard from Clarissa Black of Pets for Vets.
Goslin's project involved putting a stop to bullying of children in school because of their food allergies. After making an initial presentation to a local group at the Community Center in Purdys, Goslin said she distributed the pamphlets she created to schools in nearby towns to create awareness of the issue.
The Girl Scout Council commended Goslin for expanding her program beyond her community and DosSantos for her tenacity in acquiring, assembling and distributing her canine emergency packages.
The American flags were presented by state Sen. Greg Ball. "It's a pleasure to be here today with two great hardworking girls," he said. "They've both proven to be great leaders that we can all be proud of."
Each flag was accompanied by a display box to preserve it. Goslin plans to "hang mine in my room." DosSantos says, "My mom has a whole collection of my brother's awards and mine displayed on a wall. It'll go there."
Click here to follow Daily Voice North Salem and receive free news updates.
