BRICK – Brick Township resident Sofia Gonzales-Trelles was honored by the mayor and council for achieving her Girl Scout Gold Award.
At the July 23 council meeting, Mayor Lisa Crate presented Sofia with a certificate of commendation recognizing her for her contributions to the community.
“We are honoring Sofia tonight in recognition of her earning the Girl Scout Gold Award, which is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts. We are in appreciation for all that you do for our community,” Mayor Crate said.
Sofia organized a program for her Gold Award in Girl Scouting, to help local seniors prevent isolation and depression through the power of playing music.
“I started a music engagement program over at the Brick Senior Center, which opened up in October of last year. I partnered up with the Mayor’s Student Advisory, National Honor Society and students in my grade and younger grades who wanted to get involved with our community,” Sofia said.
Sofia explained how Brick has a high number of senior citizens – about 20% of residents are over the age of 65, she said.
“It’s not all that uncommon for older individuals to face loneliness, which can lead to depression and in turn put them at a high risk for dementia,” Sofia said. “My goal was to get them engaged with each other, get out of the house, as a way to kind of prevent them from getting to that stage.”
Sofia’s program spearheaded after she lost her grandmother to Alzheimer’s disease back in 2021.
“That’s what set me down studying neural science and dementia as a whole. I’m actually going off to college in Pittsburgh to study neural science,” Sofia said.
Sofia recently graduated from Brick Township High School. She was involved in clubs such as NHS, STEM, Student Advisory, Drama, Thespian Society, Choir, Peer Leadership, Harry Potter Club and Crochet Club and out of school groups such as Venturing Crew 129, SAIL and the Teen Advisory Board at the Brick Public Library.
Back in March, Sofia received a Hero Award acknowledging all of her community service and positive impact.
Sofia said she worked with local businesses for her music program and created a donation center to collect musical instruments for the seniors to use during the sessions.
“This was obviously a labor of love,” Mayor Crate noted.
“Thank you to everyone who’s gotten involved,” Sofia said.
