Local Girl Scouts Honored For Volunteer Service At Council Meeting

Six local Girl Scouts received Silver Award commendations from Mayor Thomas Kelaher and the Toms River Township Council, at the start of the governing body’s meeting on Tuesday evening.

First, Scouts Devon Gallo, Taylor DeMeo, Heather McCobb, and Olivia Bohanan from Troop #68 were presented with their awards by the mayor and council. They were being honored for their work in creating Project O.A.S.I.S., a 550-square foot, self-sustaining rain garden. O.A.S.I.S. stands for organic, animal-friendly, self-sustaining, instructional, soil-cleansing.

The scouts explained the purpose of the rain garden was to use plants native to the New Jersey area to cleanse rain water of pollutants before it makes its way back into the ground. Project O.A.S.I.S was constructed at Camp Sacagawea in Farmingdale last summer, and was created to absorb the run-off from a nearby 1,200- square foot roof on the Program Activity Center at the camp.

Following them, Cadette Scouts Joleen Traynor and Amber Gordon, also from Troop #68, were honored by the governing body for their contributions to the township’s animal shelter on Whitesville Road.

The Scouts built a new outdoor enclosure for the dogs at the shelter, in addition to tearing the previous one down. Both girls worked in 100-plus degree weather this past summer to accomplish that task — in addition to their speaking on the importance of spaying/neutering pets at the Toms River Veterinary Hospital's Pet Fair in May of last year, and collecting old blankets, cleaning materials and food for the Toms River Animal Shelter.

Kelaher praised the pair's work at the existing facility on Whitesville Road, and mentioned that a groundbreaking for the next to the law enforcement headquarters on Oak Avenue would hopefully take place next week.

The mayor also noted that all the Scouts being honored at the meeting were honor students and well-represented in extracurricular activities at their respective schools.