Annual Comfort Zone Event is Next Week

Submitted by: Kimberly Dunne

New Hartford, N.Y. – The Girl Scouts – Foothills Council, Inc. in partnership with M&T Bank will host the third annual “Comfort Zone” on Thursday, May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Utica College.

The event will be attended by 150 girls in 5^th – 8^th grades from many Utica schools and will focus on pre-teen and teen safety concerns and health issues. Girls who attend the event will learn about empowering themselves to make positive decisions through a series of interactive workshops and activities. A number of programs will be presented including: Making Peace presented by Peacemakers; Peer Pressure presented by Catholic Charities; Addiction: Don’t Put Your Life in Jeopardy presented by the Insight House; Eat Smart presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension; Love Can Hurt presented by the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley; Healthy Girls Jeopardy presented by Planned Parenthood; and NetSmartz presented by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

During the “Comfort Zone” girls will be able to seek guidance from area professionals about topics that they are both interested in, and are crucial to their future success; girls will learn about healthy life skills; girls will have the opportunity to meet other girls that are facing similar challenges; girls will gain self-confidence as they participate in programs with girls that they don’t know, but who are experiencing the same kinds of things; girls will learn what makes them comfortable and how to avoid the things that do not; and younger girls will learn that it’s okay to speak their mind, and to be comfortable enough with themselves to do so.

Also presenting at the event is Carissa Phelps, the Director of Strategic Accounts of The WhyTry Organization and an advocate for at-risk youth. Carissa will be talking about her childhood as an at-risk youth and how she overcame it to be the person she is today. Carissa will also hold a professional development training on Wednesday, May 20 at the Utica Public Library from 4 – 5:30 p.m. for anyone who works with youth.

For more information on either of these programs, contact Natalie Zumpano, Reachout Specialist, at (315) 733-2391, ext. 30.

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For 47 years, Girl Scouts – Foothills Council, Inc. has helped build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The council has helped girls develop to their fullest potential by providing Girl Scouting opportunities for more than 4,700 girls and 1,500 adults from all of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, most of Madison County and parts of Otsego, Lewis, and Hamilton counties, encompassing 3,125 square miles.

Annual Comfort Zone Event is Next Week

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