Samantha O’Brien a worthy Rainbow representative

Samantha O’Brien from Valley Stream earned an official Town of Hempstead Citation to mark her recent installation as Grand Worthy Advisor of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls for the New York State chapter.

She has upheld many leadership positions on the local level and state level in the nine years that she has been with Rainbow for Girls. Some of her roles on the local level include her being worthy advisor, worthy associate advisor, chaplain, drill leader and more. Positions on the state level consist of her being a grand lecturer, next to GWA.

O’Brien became a part of the Bellmore No. 9 Assembly of Rainbow in New York when she was 11 after attending a prospect party where she fell in love with what the group was about. Her mother was a rainbow girl when she was younger.

Rainbow for Girls was originally a Masonic service organization for young women ages 11 to 20, and was founded in McAlester, Okla. in 1922 by the Rev. W. Mark Sexson, a Christian minister. Today, any girl interested may join.

The three basic teachings include faith in a supreme being and in others, having hope in all that you do, and charity toward others. O’Brien describes being involved in Rainbow as a “great opportunity to do a lot of things that you may not have the opportunity to do.”

The seven colors of the rainbow are a vital part to the organization because they signify the valuable lessons the girls receive from being a member. Red is for love, orange — religion, yellow — nature, green — immortality, blue — fidelity, indigo — patriotism, and violet — service.

O’Brien participated in community service and charity work where she has raised money, collected books and donated clothes. These include planting flowers for the Valley Stream Historical Society and giving back to Lions Camp Badger, Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the American Cancer Society.

Rainbow girls get the chance to travel to different cities and states to attend other assemblies for meetings or activities, and to be a part of various state level functions and events. O’Brien has traveled to local and out of state assemblies in Suffolk, Buffalo and Indiana.

Last weekend O’Brien went to Virginia for the Grand Assembly session where she spoke on behalf of the supreme deputy and the New York chapter of Rainbow. In August, she will attend the Supreme Assembly session in Nebraska. As spokeswoman and representative for New York Rainbow, O’Brien also plans to travel to other Masonic bodies in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

After applying in the spring to be Grand Worthy Advisor, she was interviewed by the supreme deputy and past grand worthy advisors. O’Brien was asked to bring forth her developing ideas for a theme and mascot for her projects for the younger girls.

One of her term projects as GWA consisted of her putting a program together with the theme called “Reach for New Heights”. She set this up in order to challenge the girls and advisors to promote rainbow for girls. The chosen mascot was Curious George and the flower was a rose.

As the girls progress through the year, they will be given a balloon for every project they participate in with the assembly, which coincides with the theme. At the end of the year they will be able to put the balloons in a basket to show them how much they have accomplished.

O’Brien is a Nassau Community College graduate, where she focused in science and math. She plans to go to Stony Brook University this fall and would like to become a physical therapist.

While at Nassau she was inducted into the international honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and received a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence in April.

The leadership roles and public speaking skills O’Brien has learned from Rainbow has helped her in school projects and presentations. Other than being a Rainbow girl, O’Brien has an interest in swimming. She is a lifeguard and a swimming instructor for children 8 and under at the Valley Stream Pool.

She will stand as GWA for New York until May 2011. After she retires, she will be the head of the New York State Charity as the chairwoman of the junior grand executive committee.

O’Brien plans to be involved in Rainbow for many years after her retirement. “It’s an organization that gives you so much in return,” said O’Brien. “It’s been so much to me that I don’t want to see it die out.”