Tabitha Healy earns Girl Scout Gold Award

Byram - Tabitha Healy, a sophomore at Pope John High School, recently achieved her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. For the past two years, Healy worked on the requirements that lead up to a project that entailed 89 hours- exceeding the required 65 hours. Her project was planning and organizing a luncheon for Hospice Awareness which took place at the Adam Todd Inn on April 3. There were five speakers who spoke about how to become a volunteer, who qualifies for hospice, and what hospice does. One of the guest speakers was the Julia Quinlan, who founded Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice located in Newton. The idea for Healy’s project started when she took evening classes to become a volunteer for hospice. She realized how little people knew about the organization. Healy also had a positive volunteer experience at Karen Ann Quinlan and wanted to share it with the community. Through advertising, she was able to spread the invitation to the luncheon as well as receive door prizes from businesses. In addition to her approved project, Healy baked goodies to fill 40 Easter baskets with the money donations. The baskets were decorated by Rev. Brown’s 7th grade class where her mother, Lori, is a substitute teacher. She and her brother Thomas, also a Hospice volunteer, drove all over northern New Jersey delivering the baskets to Hospice patients. Healy has been a member of Girl Scout Troop 848 since third grade. She has also participated in other organizations such as PEACE Mexico and Bridges. She was inducted into Pope John High School Spanish National Honor Society this year and is a member of its swim team, varsity cheerleading, and JV Softball. She joins her older brother Thomas, who earned his Eagle Scout Award in March 2010, in receiving scouting’s highest award. Only 5.4 percent of eligible Girl Scouts achieve the Gold Award.