Girl Scout Troop 2513, made up of 6th-grade girls from the Ossining, Tarrytown, Pocantico Hills, and the Masters School communities, has just completed their Girl Scout Bronze Award project — the construction of a Community Hope Bench that was recently installed at DeVries Park in Sleepy Hollow.
The girls each dedicated more than 20 hours to the project, working together to design, create, and construct both the bench and the surrounding space. Their goal was to create a welcoming place in the park where visitors can sit, reflect, and find a moment of hope and encouragement.
The completed project was installed at DeVries Park on September 25, with the Mayor of Sleepy Hollow Marjorie Hsu in attendance. At the ceremony, each girl shared a few sentences about a different stage of the project, explaining how they had worked together to bring The Hope Spot to life. They then unveiled the bench and described what they hoped visitors would feel there: restored, free to be themselves, inspired, relaxed, comforted, grateful, safe, a sense of belonging, and calm. Six standing markers along the trail to the bench displayed the specific words they wanted people to reflect on as they approached, along with separate words and symbols to consider as they left The Hope Spot.
“We feel this is a particularly meaningful story because the project demonstrates the girls’ creativity, commitment to community service, and desire to make a positive impact in their own community, said Becca Zohar from Troop 2513. “It also provides a wonderful example of young girls coming together across several local school communities to create something that will benefit residents and visitors for years to come.”
