Here’s a project that I became involved in with one of my students for her Girl Scout Gold Award. I even wound up wrtting and producing a song for the project from Eva's mission statement "Where Hope Begins'". To hear the song click the link at bottom of text.
My name is Lauren Picone:
I am 16 years old and a junior at Mount Saint Dominic’s Academy. I work at a bakery, I play varsity tennis, I’m an honors student, and I play guitar, but also a bit of piano, bass guitar, and drums. I started as a little girl on the piano, but moved to acoustic guitar and have stuck with it ever since. I used to be in a band called Scarlet Rush. In the band I mostly played guitar, but we tended to switch instruments a lot. We actually played for women and children from the Hope Residents at Eva’s Village a few years ago.
What a Girl Scout Gold Award is :
Well, as a Girl Scout you can be active and accomplish awards. The first two are the bronze and silver awards which are done and received with your troop. After those two awards are accomplished you as an individual can try to achieve the Gold Award. A very common comparison of the Gold Award is when boy scouts have to do a project to become Eagle Scouts. The gold award is the highest reward a girl scout can achieve.To accomplish the gold award, first you need to identity an issue and then you have to find ways to fix it. You have to first get your idea of what is going to be done and get it approved by the board, and then you are sent out to get the job done. The Gold Award is all about making a positive change.
My Gold Award Story:
When i sat down to think about what i wanted to do for my gold award, it took me awhile to figure it out. Music is such a big part of my life. Not only do I play instruments, but I listen to music most of my day. Listening to and playing music is two types of “therapies” for me. It expresses the emotions I can’t and keeps me sane. I honestly wouldn’t know what i would do without music in my life. Thats when it hit me like a brick. Everyone can listen to music, but not everyone has the chance to play, and I knew i wanted to donate instruments to people who couldn't afford them. So, I needed to figure out more details, what I was going to do exactly, and who the donations would go to. I went to Brian Jones from Good Vibrations Music, my music teacher for about 5 years now, and asked him if he would become my advisor for my project. We sat down, and talked it out, our ideas bouncing off one another’s, suddenly we realized we needed a name for my project and then in a flash we had it STRUMMING FOR CHANGE Brian assisted the band I was in Scarlet Rush, and helped give us get the opportunity to play for the women and children at the Hope Residents at Eva’s. The experience was amazing, and the effect that we had on the people their was inspiring. So, we decided Eva’s was the perfect place to share the magic of music with. This project has been a work in progress for at least 10 months now, and I am amazed about how many people accepted the idea and helped me take a step closer to achieving my goals. Specifically Eric Lewandoski, who helped design Strumming For Change’s logo, Dennis Macpherson from Black Pearl Guitars, who helped repair many guitars, Robbie’s Music City in Wayne NJ , Brian Jones from Good Vibrations Music, who was not only my advisor and donated much of his time to my project, but also got inspired himself and created and wrote and song for Eva’s. I want to thank everyone else who has either donated their time,money, or instruments to this cause. Without the people who helped me in this project, I would not have gotten the amount of usable donations, and I am truly grateful that they realize the difference I am trying to make and fully support me.
Kudos to you Lauren. It was a pleasure working on this project with you!
If you or anyone you know has an instrument they would like to donate, please feel free to contact me, so we can continue with this good work.
My name is Lauren Picone:
I am 16 years old and a junior at Mount Saint Dominic’s Academy. I work at a bakery, I play varsity tennis, I’m an honors student, and I play guitar, but also a bit of piano, bass guitar, and drums. I started as a little girl on the piano, but moved to acoustic guitar and have stuck with it ever since. I used to be in a band called Scarlet Rush. In the band I mostly played guitar, but we tended to switch instruments a lot. We actually played for women and children from the Hope Residents at Eva’s Village a few years ago.
What a Girl Scout Gold Award is :
Well, as a Girl Scout you can be active and accomplish awards. The first two are the bronze and silver awards which are done and received with your troop. After those two awards are accomplished you as an individual can try to achieve the Gold Award. A very common comparison of the Gold Award is when boy scouts have to do a project to become Eagle Scouts. The gold award is the highest reward a girl scout can achieve.To accomplish the gold award, first you need to identity an issue and then you have to find ways to fix it. You have to first get your idea of what is going to be done and get it approved by the board, and then you are sent out to get the job done. The Gold Award is all about making a positive change.
My Gold Award Story:
When i sat down to think about what i wanted to do for my gold award, it took me awhile to figure it out. Music is such a big part of my life. Not only do I play instruments, but I listen to music most of my day. Listening to and playing music is two types of “therapies” for me. It expresses the emotions I can’t and keeps me sane. I honestly wouldn’t know what i would do without music in my life. Thats when it hit me like a brick. Everyone can listen to music, but not everyone has the chance to play, and I knew i wanted to donate instruments to people who couldn't afford them. So, I needed to figure out more details, what I was going to do exactly, and who the donations would go to. I went to Brian Jones from Good Vibrations Music, my music teacher for about 5 years now, and asked him if he would become my advisor for my project. We sat down, and talked it out, our ideas bouncing off one another’s, suddenly we realized we needed a name for my project and then in a flash we had it STRUMMING FOR CHANGE Brian assisted the band I was in Scarlet Rush, and helped give us get the opportunity to play for the women and children at the Hope Residents at Eva’s. The experience was amazing, and the effect that we had on the people their was inspiring. So, we decided Eva’s was the perfect place to share the magic of music with. This project has been a work in progress for at least 10 months now, and I am amazed about how many people accepted the idea and helped me take a step closer to achieving my goals. Specifically Eric Lewandoski, who helped design Strumming For Change’s logo, Dennis Macpherson from Black Pearl Guitars, who helped repair many guitars, Robbie’s Music City in Wayne NJ , Brian Jones from Good Vibrations Music, who was not only my advisor and donated much of his time to my project, but also got inspired himself and created and wrote and song for Eva’s. I want to thank everyone else who has either donated their time,money, or instruments to this cause. Without the people who helped me in this project, I would not have gotten the amount of usable donations, and I am truly grateful that they realize the difference I am trying to make and fully support me.
Kudos to you Lauren. It was a pleasure working on this project with you!
If you or anyone you know has an instrument they would like to donate, please feel free to contact me, so we can continue with this good work.
