Posted May 24, 2011 Girl Scouts and Navy Reserve Sailors gathered on May 21 in Valhalla to pack up cookies for airmen, sailors, soldiers, and marines stationed overseas. This is the tenth year that Girl Scouts from seven different counties in the lower-Hudson Valley (Ulster, Dutchess, Sullivan, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester) have come together to pack up cookies donated by Girl Scout customers to be shipped overseas. The project first began with the Girl Scouts of Ardsley, who decided after 9/11 to send their cookies to the men and women serving abroad. In the beginning, the Ardsley troop mailed their cookies, but soon they teamed up with Fort Dix to transport the cookies to the Middle East.
The project grew from 111 boxes sent by the 36 girls of the Ardsley troop the first year to roughly 56,000 thousand boxes, 849 Girl Scouts, and 25 service members from Fort Dix today. Alison Bergman, who organizes the vast amounts of cookies and personnel, said that Hudson Valley residents can’t say no to sending a taste of home to soldiers, sailors, and marines, which results in the tremendous amount of cookies headed over to the troops. On June 3rd, the giant cartons, big enough for Girl Scouts to stand in, will leave from Baltimore and begin their three week journey to Kuwait in the hold of a ship. Another 1000 boxes were sent to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington for wounded warriors, 2000 boxes went to Stewart Air Force Base to be flown out to Iraq and Afghanistan, and 1500 were sent out by local Girl Scout communities to soldiers from the Hudson Valley serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In spite of the concern about the cookies melting, Ms. Bergman has received letters from service members saying, “We don’t care if they arrive as thin mint soup, we’ll eat them.” Thin mints are one of the most popular types of Girl Scout cookies, and also the favorite of Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson CEO and lifelong Girl Scout Pam Anderson, who prefers to eat them frozen. LS1 Roxanna Virgo’s favorite flavor is Samoas, and luckily, they didn’t melt when she received her Girl Scout cookies during her tours in Kuwait and Iraq.
In addition to sending cookies, the Girl Scouts write letters to the service members, letting them know how much they are appreciated and wishing them a safe return home. The letter written by Marcie Piller from Troop 2859 in Ryebrook captures many of the Girl Scouts’ feelings: "Dear Soldier, Thank you for serving our country. Stay safe.” Ms. Anderson described Operation Cookie Drop as one of the Girl Scout’s most important events. She said, “It means so much to us, to families, and to soldiers serving overseas. It’s tangible evidence of community service, and it’s good for the girls to see how their hard work can make the servicemen feel better and close to home." LS1 Virgo agreed and added, “It’s good to know that people at home are thinking of us, and to know we are not forgotten.” Equipment Operator 1st Class E.X.W. Leon Fleet said the letters and words of encouragement put smiles on the troops’ faces.
Operation Cookie Drop was also visited by Assemblyman Castelli, a Vietnam veteran and the ranking minority member on the Assembly Veterans’ Affairs Committee in Albany. He came to offer congratulations. “These are fine young ladies who have seen fit to do all they can for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines,” Mr. Castelli said. He remembered his days as a soldier and added, “Anything coming from home touches you tremendously and keeps you closer to home.” His son, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Special Forces, has been on five tours in Afghanistan since 9/11. Although he’s currently back in the States and enjoys Girl Scout cookies, Assemblyman Castelli said his son would be the first to say, “send them over there.”
The Girl Scouts were also excited about the event; some of them said that the best part of the project was helping the troops and having a chance to spend time with them. Some of the girls have relatives who have served over seas in Afghanistan, Iraq or other locations during past wars. The Rosedale troops from Ulster County inspired the American Legion and the Lady’s Auxiliary to each purchase 100 boxes of cookies. Sue Disheart from Somers has been involved in Operation Cookie Drop for the past eight years. Her son, Specialist Justin Dishart with the Cavalry Division of the United States Army at Fort Liberty Camp Justice in Baghdad, actually helped unload cookies during the third year of Operation Cookie Drop. He’s getting his own care package this year, along with special notes written by the Girl Scouts.
Girl Scout Troop 2928, composed of 11 7th grade Crittenden students, dropped off 11 cases of cookies, which is a total of 132 cookies that Armonk residents bought and donated to our troops. Sarah, who represented the troop at Operation Cookie Drop, said, “It was very heartwarming for me to see so many people who share a common bond come together to help the troops who protect us every day.”
This past Saturday, two very different groups, both service-oriented and with a thing for badges, worked together to remind troops deployed overseas that they are not forgotten. “The Ardsley Girl Scouts and I,” Ms. Bergman says, “are very proud that ten years later, this little project has grown into this big Council wide event that can send a little taste of home to thousands of soldiers overseas, and we hope they know that we are thinking of them.”
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