Going for the Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. It shows the girl is a leader who is organized, determined, and dedicated to improving her community. Girls must be in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade (or equivalent) and a registered Girl Scout Cadette to qualify.

In a special ceremony, 10 Girl Scouts of Troop 376, were recognized and honored for their achievements, under the leadership of Bridget Freeby and Dawn Bartholomew. It was held at Cherry's Sunset Family Restaurant in Kresgeville.Eight of those girls received the coveted Silver Award. They completed a Cadette Journey where they had to: identify issues they cared about; built their Girl Scout Silver Award team or decided to go solo; explored their community; picked their Silver Award project which had to be done in the local community (beyond the Girl Scout community); developed their project; made a plan and put it into motion; then reflected and shared their story. All that was left to do was celebrate their accomplishments.The girls worked together as a team, picking Operation: Touch of Home (OTOH) as their service project, helping it over a period of many years. Some of the things they did were: baked for OTOH fundraisers like Night At The Races and the Military Appreciation dinners: collected food in the November Food Drive; donated hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout Cookies for military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan; collected small items and filled plastic boxes for the children in Iraq and Afghanistan; made centerpieces for OTOH Appreciation Dinners."Most of the girls put in over 100 hours in the past several years," said Freeby.They were: Samantha Bartholomew, daughter of Steve and Dawn Bartholomew; Aubrey Freeby, daughter of Doug and Bridget Freeby; Maliyah Jones, daughter of Malcolm Jones and Maribel Garcia-Jones; Emily McDermott, daughter of Matthew and Susan McDermott; Kierstin Meckes, daughter of Mike and Kim Meckes; Julia Sherer, daughter of Roger and Sheila Sherer; Nicolette Sonmez, daughter of Robert and Heidi Sonmez; Camaryn Wheeler, daughter of Jim and Toni Wheeler.All eight girls also earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. The Presidential Volunteer Service Award recognizes Girl Scouts for their community service efforts. It is a Presidential honor, initiated by President Bush in 2003, to recognize the valuable contributions of volunteers across the nation who answer the call to service to others through their volunteer activities. The Girl Scout recipients have their service hours verified, which are accumulated from January 1 - December 31.Dean Green of Operation: Touch of Home presented the Presidential Volunteer Service Award. He said that the girls were an important part of helping the organization send packages of essential items to our local service men and women serving overseas for the last eight years. These packages from home boost their morale and that of their whole unit. The packages have been sent to over 1,115 heroes with an excess of 121,000 pounds of essential items."You have made an impact," he told the Cadettes.These Girl Scout Cadettes were: Samantha Bartholomew, Gold award for 169 hours of volunteer service; Aubrey Freeby, Bronze for 60 hours; Maliyah Jones, Bronze for 72 hours; Emily McDermott, Silver with 89 hours; Kierstin Meckes, Bronze with 52 hours; Julia Sherer, Bronze with 61 hours; Nicolette Sonmez, Bronze with 51 hours; Camaryn Wheeler, Bronze with 72 hours.Some of the volunteer activities that the Scouts participated in include: helping autistic children; tutoring younger children; making and donating items to Make A Wish Foundation; singing at a nursing home; helping at church activities such as basket socials and flea markets; volunteering at dog rescues; donating food to the local soup kitchen.Two Cadettes, Rachel Martello and Reyna Thomas, received Honorable Mentions for their contributions."Their path in Girl Scouting has just recently begun but they already started seeking out volunteer opportunities in our community and we want to recognize their contributions," said Freeby.Grace Marks, aide to PA State Senator Patrick Browne and on his behalf, presented all the Cadettes with Certificates and Citations."It's very rare we get to see a girl get her Silver or Gold Award so we are very proud of your accomplishments," Marks said.The Cadettes also received citations from PA Rep. Michael Carroll.Deanna Kish, the Girl Scouts Service Unit Manager of 14 Cadettes and older troops in the Pleasant Valley district, said, "On behalf of the Service Unit, congratulations. We know how hard you worked. And parents, be proud of these girls. Girls, be very proud of your accomplishments."Leader Freeby ended the candle lighting ceremony with, "When you started out on this journey, you were little girls. Now you are ladies."