Mendham Official Takes Part In Girl Scouts' 'Voter Girl 2021'

MENDHAM, NJ — The Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey recently hosted their annual “Voter Girl” event, with elected officials from New Jersey's north, including a Mendham Township Committeewoman, there to teach Girl Scouts in attendance about the voting process.

Mendham Township Committeewoman Amalia Duarte was one of several officials at the event, along with Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi, Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, R-25th Dist., Mountain Lakes Councilwoman Cynthia Korman, Fair Lawn’s Deputy Mayor Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich, Deputy Mayor and Chatham Township Committee Member Katherine “Kathy” Abbott and Passaic County Commissioner Cassandra “Sandi” Lazzara, among the group of women.

Abbott, there as Voter Girl Coordinator from the League of Women Voters, a group that helped to spearhead the event, along with the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey, described the event as a way to “empower Girl Scouts to engage in their communities as leaders in civic life, especially in voting, advocating for social justice, participating as future volunteers in their local governments or even running for elected office,” in a news release from the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.

At the Voter Girl 2021 event at Lake Rickabear Camp in Kinnelon on Sept. 26, not only did the approximately 165 attending Girl Scouts earn a badge, they learned about the women’s suffrage movement, the 19th Amendment that ensured women could vote and even did their own voting simulation.

Betty Garger, the president and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey credited the Girl Scouts with teaching girls to get involved and stand up for what they believe in.

“Being encouraged to speak up and providing the tools for girls to support social issues they care about is a vital piece of the Girl Scout Mission and one of the ways we can prepare girls to be advocates is to teach them about civic engagement through programming like Voter Girl,” Garger said.

For more about Voter Girl 2021, click here.

The Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey represents Girl Scouts in Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and northern Warren counties.

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