Girl Scouts donate more than 81,000 packages of cookies to military, hometown heroes, food pantries

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Shannon Ouellette, warehouse worker, left, and Myla Danforth, administrative assistant for the New Hampshire Food Bank, were happy to receive 12,000 packages of Girl Scout Cookies on June 5. The cookies were distributed immediately after their arrival at the food bank. (GSGWM photo)

BEDFORD, NH – Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains have donated more than 81,000 packages of Girl Scout Cookies to hometown heroes, those in the military, and to those simply in need this year. That’s more than four-times the number of packages donated last year, and a likely record for the council.

The donations came about through the generosity of those who decided to buy packages at cookie booths and donate to a troop’s particular charity or through the Girl Scouts’ Gift of Caring initiative, those who made donations online once the pandemic struck and kept girls from selling in person, and also through the Girl Scout council deciding that unsold cookies would best benefit people in need and to thank our hometown heroes and military for their service.

The council, which serves more than 10,000 girls in New Hampshire and Vermont, has long participated in the Gift of Caring, allowing contributors to show gratitude to our community and service to our country. That initiative was expanded to include essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 16 hospitals, medical departments and Red Cross locations received cookies; along with 18 military-related organizations like the National Guard, Veterans Administration, Pease Greeters, and veterans homes; plus police departments, fire departments, charitable organizations, food pantries, and others.

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Health care workers at the Dartmouth COVID-19 unit were grateful for a donation of Girl Scout Cookies this spring. (Courtesy photo)

Appreciation for the heartfelt and caring donations came from nurses, doctors and support staff at Catholic Medical Center, Parkland Hospital, Elliot Health System, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the Red Cross in New Hampshire, and Central Vermont Medical Center, the University of Vermont, and Northwest Medical Center in Vermont, were among those to receive donated cookies. Girl Scout Cookies even brightened the day for soldiers in the Vermont National Guard. In May, 4,500 packages of Girl Scout Cookies were delivered to the Manchester Veterans Administration and the Tilton Veterans Home in New Hampshire, as well as the White River Junction Veterans Administration in Vermont.

The Vermont Foodbank and the New Hampshire Food Bank were grateful to receive thousands of packages of Girl Scout Cookies, which immediately went out the door to people feeling the pinch in this difficult time.

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The Hillsborough Country Nursing Home in Goffstown was grateful to receive Girl Scout Cookies. (Courtesy photo)

Those who bought cookies as donations power the Girl Scout experience, providing funding for girls to participate in the largest entrepreneurial program for girls in the world. Through Girl Scouting, girls from kindergarten through 12th grade learn essential life skills, become leaders, blaze new trails, and excel in STEM fields.

Girl Scouts’ mission is to make the world a better place for all, and cookies not only bring smiles to those who crave the sweet treats, they fund the programs, activities, and support staff that enables Girl Scouts to help girls become young women of courage, confidence and character. When you support a girl’s success through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, you’re narrowing the entrepreneurship gap between women and men by nurturing that go-getter spirit early on and equipping her with the confidence and know-how to dream big and do bigger.

Your cookie purchase is an investment in the world-changing business leaders of tomorrow! Visit www.girlscoutsgwm.org for more information.

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Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains