Girl Scout Gold Award Project Hypertext Main Page

St. Mary's Hospital was the place where "Project Put a Smile On" had taken place. This project was a good demonstration of how I, as an individual, can put citizenship to work. In the reading “Bowling Together”, it states “… political awareness has not, however, led most Americans to run out and join community organizations or to show up for club meetings that they used to shun. Generally speaking, attitudes (such as trust and concern) have shifted more than behavior has" (Putnam). This quote relates to this project because I was actually going against the norm by participating in an activity to help the community instead of just having an opinion for what should be done to help it. I noticed that kids in hospitals needed more ways to have a smile put on their face when being in a hospital for long terms, so I went out and actually did something about it. The project was something that took a lot of time and effort from myself. After I decided what I wanted to do to help the community, I had to spread out the project to 65 hours of community service. I had to get people from the community as well to help me with my project. There was the set-up and paperwork all done by me. There were the phone calls to get volunteers for the project. I had to also set-up a fundraiser within my project. This project brought out all of my leadership skills at once.

Individual Role St. Mary's Hospital was the place where "Project Put a Smile On" had taken place. This project was a good demonstration of how I, as an individual, can put citizenship to work. In the reading “Bowling Together”, it states “… political awareness has not, however, led most Americans to run out and join community organizations or to show up for club meetings that they used to shun. Generally speaking, attitudes (such as trust and concern) have shifted more than behavior has" (Putnam). This quote relates to this project because I was actually going against the norm by participating in an activity to help the community instead of just having an opinion for what should be done to help it. I noticed that kids in hospitals needed more ways to have a smile put on their face when being in a hospital for long terms, so I went out and actually did something about it. The project was something that took a lot of time and effort from myself. After I decided what I wanted to do to help the community, I had to spread out the project to 65 hours of community service. I had to get people from the community as well to help me with my project. There was the set-up and paperwork all done by me. There were the phone calls to get volunteers for the project. I had to also set-up a fundraiser within my project. This project brought out all of my leadership skills at once.
Set-Up and Paperwork
Social Capital The Gold Award project took a lot of planning. First, there was the paperwork, but the most important part was all of the phone calls that had to be made. This deals with social networking because I had to research which hospitals had pediatric units on Long Island. My dad, as an EMT, knew which hospitals had pediatric units, and which hospitals would benefit most from my help. So, like social capital explains, I was able to find out the information I needed based on someone that I knew within the system. This example can relate to the quote, “The term social capital itself turns out to have been independently invented at least six times over the twentieth century, each time to call attention to the ways in which our lives are made more productive by social ties" (Putnam). In other words, because of someone you know, you most probably will be more productive in what you’re trying to get done.	Time Distribution Time was definitely of the essence working on this project because I had to drive 30 minutes to the hospital, I spent 2-3 hours at the hospital for each activity multiple times throughout the summer, I took a few minutes to make posters for advertising the project, and I spent a few hours at the mall for the fundraiser. When putting this much time and effort into the project, Girl Scouts definitely deserve the recognition that they receive from the town officials.
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