The smell of cookies is in the air. It’s that time when Girl Scouts can be found participating in one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.
If you’ve ever wondered just how those deliciously sweet Trefoils, Thin Mints and Samoas got from the bakery to your door, ask any Girl Scout and they’ll tell you it involves hard work and a whole lot of space.
Feb. 9 was cookie delivery day for Service Unit 13, which is made up of 75 Girl Scout troops in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area and parts of Bear.
Not even 24 hours before the Townsend Fire Company’s roof gave way to the weight of snow Feb. 10, the fire hall was packed with case after case of cookies.
Delivery drivers hauled 4,322 cases off the trucks, which brought the scouts’ total to approximately 52,000 boxes. Each box, baked by Little Brownie Bakers, was pre-ordered by friends, family and neighbors eager to help the Scouts make their fundraising goals.
“It’s quite an adventure,” said Beth Esrey, service unit cookie manager for unit 13. “You look at all those palates of cookies stacked 12 cases high, and you just wonder how you’re going to figure it all out. But it’s a lot of fun.”
Esrey said a second truck delivered an additional 550 cases for the cookie cupboard, which comes in handy during upcoming cookie booths, in which Scouts hold sales at local grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations.
Along with a few parent volunteers and Girl Scouts, Esrey sifted through each case, sorting each troop’s orders and getting them out the door. By noon that day, troops were coming to collect and the last order went out at around 5:30 p.m.
“We’re happy to say it went very smoothly,” she said. “One of the funniest moments though was when we had one cookie mom fit an entire order into her car where there was just enough space for her to get in and drive away.”
For five years, the unit has utilized the Townsend Fire Company’s facilities to hold the delivery. The firefighters can always expect a sweet treat for allowing the Scouts to use the building.
“Each troop will donate a box of their choice to the fire hall,” Esrey said. “The fire company ends up with a couple good size cases of Girl Scout cookies that they can divide between all of the members. It’s theirs for a taking as a thank you.”
Esrey, whose 18-year-old daughter Briana has been a Girl Scout since she was a Daisy, said not only do the Girl Scouts benefit from the funds they earn, the process provides them with a good deal of marketing experience.
“You have to deal with a customer, you have to deal with a product and you also have to deal with the financial end of it,” she said. “A lot of troops set up a little entrepreneur program, so they get a whole business experience from start to finish.”
Esrey said the money raised from the cookies goes to trips and activities that interest each troop.
She said the unit also has a charitable portion of the cookie sale, in which they donate cookies to troops overseas and local organizations. This year the unit chose to provide cookies to the Neighborhood House and Trinity United Methodist Church in Middletown.
“That puts some of those cookies into the community for those who otherwise may not be able to have Girl Scout Cookies.”
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The smell of cookies is in the air. It’s that time when Girl Scouts can be found participating in one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.
If you’ve ever wondered just how those deliciously sweet Trefoils, Thin Mints and Samoas got from the bakery to your door, ask any Girl Scout and they’ll tell you it involves hard work and a whole lot of space.
Feb. 9 was cookie delivery day for Service Unit 13, which is made up of 75 Girl Scout troops in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area and parts of Bear.
Not even 24 hours before the Townsend Fire Company’s roof gave way to the weight of snow Feb. 10, the fire hall was packed with case after case of cookies.
Delivery drivers hauled 4,322 cases off the trucks, which brought the scouts’ total to approximately 52,000 boxes. Each box, baked by Little Brownie Bakers, was pre-ordered by friends, family and neighbors eager to help the Scouts make their fundraising goals.
“It’s quite an adventure,” said Beth Esrey, service unit cookie manager for unit 13. “You look at all those palates of cookies stacked 12 cases high, and you just wonder how you’re going to figure it all out. But it’s a lot of fun.”
Esrey said a second truck delivered an additional 550 cases for the cookie cupboard, which comes in handy during upcoming cookie booths, in which Scouts hold sales at local grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations.
Along with a few parent volunteers and Girl Scouts, Esrey sifted through each case, sorting each troop’s orders and getting them out the door. By noon that day, troops were coming to collect and the last order went out at around 5:30 p.m.
“We’re happy to say it went very smoothly,” she said. “One of the funniest moments though was when we had one cookie mom fit an entire order into her car where there was just enough space for her to get in and drive away.”
For five years, the unit has utilized the Townsend Fire Company’s facilities to hold the delivery. The firefighters can always expect a sweet treat for allowing the Scouts to use the building.
“Each troop will donate a box of their choice to the fire hall,” Esrey said. “The fire company ends up with a couple good size cases of Girl Scout cookies that they can divide between all of the members. It’s theirs for a taking as a thank you.”
Esrey, whose 18-year-old daughter Briana has been a Girl Scout since she was a Daisy, said not only do the Girl Scouts benefit from the funds they earn, the process provides them with a good deal of marketing experience.
“You have to deal with a customer, you have to deal with a product and you also have to deal with the financial end of it,” she said. “A lot of troops set up a little entrepreneur program, so they get a whole business experience from start to finish.”
Esrey said the money raised from the cookies goes to trips and activities that interest each troop.
She said the unit also has a charitable portion of the cookie sale, in which they donate cookies to troops overseas and local organizations. This year the unit chose to provide cookies to the Neighborhood House and Trinity United Methodist Church in Middletown.
“That puts some of those cookies into the community for those who otherwise may not be able to have Girl Scout Cookies.”
