Loretta Golden of Smithtown may only be eighteen years old but she is a philanthropic force to be reckoned with. She has taken on a myriad of projects and made substantial changes in her community and beyond. The Smithtown West graduate received a Proclamation from the County for her hard work and her much earned Girl Scout Gold Award back in June.
Her mother Dr. Kristie Golden is very proud of the work her daughter has done. “She volunteered at St. Patrick’s (Catholic School in Smithtown) helping as a teacher assistant in religion classes,” she explained. While Loretta was doing that she was often partnered with a teacher who had a student with a disability in the classroom. “Loretta was assigned to provide additional support, she learned that religion teachers, volunteers themselves, are often not trained in working specifically with children with disabilities,” said Dr. Golden. She went on to explain that this led to her daughter to have Disability Awareness to become the focus on her Girl Scouts Gold Award project.
There were three components to her Gold Award: a) Develop and Present a Power Point presentation for the religion teachers at St. Pat’s and then distribute the presentation to various parishes and a temples in Smithtown, St. James, Stony Brook and Kings Park. b) Create a YouTube video of several people talking briefly about their disability and how it affects them and c) created and managed a Facebook resource page for a year which provided resources and information on various disabilities called The Ones Who Really Count.
“Having a learning disability herself led to her heightened awareness to the struggles of others and to her activism to increase awareness,” she continued.
Loretta hopes are to become a Recreation Therapist, working with people with disabilities and ultimately aims to become a Music Therapist.
“I understand bullying and stigma because other kids don’t understand kids with disabilities, they assume they are all stupid,” Loretta explains. Because of this Loretta has had friends who have become quite sad, they have felt less than, worthless and the lower self-esteem is a risk factor for drug use. “She has taken it upon herself to intervene, provide support to her friends and help them support and counseling they needs, she has gone as far as getting the names of therapists for her friends’ parents so they can follow up,” explained her proud mother.
Loretta was selected by a local organization to receive a scholarship slot to take an 8 hour Youth Mental health First Aid course to help her intervene if the situation were to arise if a friend or other young person feels down or is suicidal. The young activist also has Alzheimer’s and Dementia on her radar of critical issues she’d like to work on as they have touched her personally with families members who suffer from these illnesses.
She has done environmental work and helped with shoreline clean-up days in Smithtown.
The Suffolk County Community College student, like all young ladies preparing for their Gold Award, had to go through a rigorous process and formerly file her project.
The Name of Loretta’s Project was called The Knowledge of Disability Awareness. Her team members/advisors included three employees of South Oaks Hospital. She says, “I think my project will be sustained beyond my involvement by others passing on the information and handouts that I have shared through my Power Point Presentation, You Tube video and Facebook page called The Ones that Count.”
She shared that during her project people came up to her and said that she inspired them. “That means they will remember what I taught them,” she added.
She admitted that with so many different disabilities there is an enormous amount to learn. Her target audience were people and volunteers that work with the disabled.
The Girl Scout Leadership Outcomes she achieved while earning her esteemed Gold Award include:
I will develop a stronger sense of self, I will develop positive values, I will gain practical life skills, I will develop critical thinking, I will develop healthy relationships, I will promote cooperation and team building, I will resolve conflicts, I will advance diversity in a multicultural world, I will feel more connected to my community locally and globally. In in addition they included: I will identify community issues, I will be resourceful problem solver, I will advocate for myself and others, locally and globally, I will educate and inspire others to act and alas I will feel empowered to make a difference in the world.
The Smithtown teen with big aspirations can add big achievements to her resume. Her mom said her family and friends are all proud of her and she really has only just begun!