Girl Scout unites youth and seniors in the area Teen launches game night at senior center to achieve Gold Award BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Teens play games with senior citizens at the Meadowbrook Senior Center in Eatontown during game night. EATONTOWN - In an effort to earn the highest achievement for a teenage Girl Scout, a borough resident embarked on a project to unite youth and seniors in the community. Melissa Bradley named her project Generation Games and after many hours of hard work and research she has launched a program for monthly activity nights to be held at Meadowbrook Senior Center. The project will help Bradley achieve the Girl Scout Gold Award this year from the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore. "There is a lack of structured events and nightly activities offered at the Senior Center," said Bradley, a student at Communications High School in Wall. "My project joined members of my town together who would otherwise never have met and allowed for a greater sense of community," Bradley said. One night a month, community youth come out to the Senior Center and play games and other activities and eat snacks with senior citizens, according to Bradley. There are many games that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, said Bradley, a Girl Scout for 10 years, adding that it is often unusual to find teenagers and senior citizens playing together. The program was started in January 2007 and has continued on a monthly basis for more than a year, Bradley said. "The night usually lasts about two hours," she said. "We show up and eat and talk for a little and then we play games like cards and scrabble. "The youth really enjoy it and the seniors always ask when we are coming back every time we are leaving," she said. Bradley was deciding to launch a project that would make a difference in the community and bring the youth and the seniors in the area together. She is the chairman of the Eatontown Youth Committee and was volunteering for a senior center when the idea came to her.S he began by surveying residents of the Meadowbrook Senior Center about games they enjoy playing. She then worked with the Eatontown Youth Committee, which already visits the center on a regular basis, to coordinate activities for a monthly game night at the Senior Center. Once Bradley finished creating the project, she presented it to the Eatontown Youth Committee with a recommendation that it continue on an ongoing monthly basis. "On a personal level, I had a feeling of gratification upon arriving home after each game night," Bradley said. "Members of the Youth Committee and residents of the Senior Center would often ask me when the next game night was scheduled. "To me, this indicated the project's success," she added. Bradley is one of at least 30 girls from Monmouth and Ocean counties expected to earn a Gold Award this year from the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore. The Gold Award is the highest achievement available to a teen Girl Scout. The program is designed to help girls ages 14-18 to create a foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship. Bradley is expected to receive the award sometime this month. Although it is called an award, the Gold Award is something that is earned and is not easily achieved. Each recipient must spend at least 65 hours completing a project that combines organizational, leadership and networking skills with community service. The girl must feel passionate about the project in thought, deed and action, according to a press release from the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore. The project should also have an impact in the girl's community that ideally will continue even after her involvement ends, according to the release.