In addition to hanging out with their friends after school, participating in team sports or working on the weekends, 76 Girl Scouts in Nassau County have worked a minimum of 65 hours to improve their communities. They have performed acts of kindness and goodwill. This earned them the Gold Award, the highest honor that a young woman can achieve in Girl Scouting.

Regina Fox of Massapequa set out to make the world more aware of the important contributions that deaf people make to both the culture of the deaf world and the culture of the hearing world, through her project, "Deaf Awareness." She held workshops for younger Girl Scouts and her peers, teaching them more about the world of the deaf, to demonstrate that deaf and hearing people are more alike than they are different. She included a presentation on American Sign Language. Regina is a senior at Massapequa High School where she has served as the head photographer and photo editor for the school newspaper and is the drum majorette for the band.

For the past six years, she has been a competitive dancer. Regina is a counselor at Girl Scouts of Nassau County's Summer Fun Day Camp and is employed by Starbucks. Regina plans to enter Marymount College in the fall. "We are so truly proud of our Girl Scouts who have earned this honor," said Donna Ceravolo, Executive Director of GSNC. "This is the largest number of recipients we have had in Girl Scouts of Nassau County history!"

Last month, the Girl Scouts of Nassau County honored Senior Girl Scouts between the ages of 16 and 18 at a special ceremony held at SUNY Old Westbury. The following day, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi presented the girls, along with their Eagle Scout Award counterparts from Boy Scouts, with certificates for their achievements at the Cradle of Aviation.

Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, along with this year's Eagle Scouts, were also recognized by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray on June 10 at the Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve.