By Stephanie Ruby
The Daisies in Girl Scout Troop #30791 set out with a goal at the beginning of this cookie season – to collect donations of cookies that could be sent to the one-six Marine Division 1st Platoon, stationed at Fort LeJeune in North Carolina. This group of Marines was chosen because one of the men in the platoon – Jake Finfrock – is the cousin of Shannon Brumbaugh, a scout in this Daisy troop.
The girls thought it would be “pretty cool” to get one hundred boxes donated during the cookie season; they knocked on doors, asked neighbors, friends, and family, issued challenges to each other for motivation, and put out the call on Facebook – telling everyone they could think of that they needed donations. The combination of Marines – known for giving much without asking anything of others – and adorable little Girl Scouts must have been too much to resist, because the community answered in a big way; in only two weeks, this small group of 5-7 year olds collected over 200 donated boxes of cookies!
On February 15, the troop got together in the basement of Hoffman United Methodist Church, in West Milton, to pack up the cookies and send them out. Along with the cookies, the girls took a picture to send with the cookies, and made cards thanking the Marines for their service and dedication. When asked why she wanted to collect cookies for the Marines, Shannon Brumbaugh replied, “Because I love Jake and he loves cookies!”
Abriella Ruby said that she wanted to help collect cookies because, “They (Marines) don’t get paid a whole lot and they work so hard – we should at least give them some yummy cookies!”
The cookies were hand delivered to the Platoon, and the girls were extremely excited to see a real-time picture (sent via text message) as the cookies were being handed out. The girls were so happy, as a matter of fact, that one Girl Scout even did a “happy dance” in the middle of a grocery store, working at a Girl Scout cookie booth; that little Daisy has pretty big dreams, saying, “Maybe we’ll collect 500 boxes next year!”
With the “can-do attitude” in this troop, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them collect 500 boxes next cookie season.
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