Spc. Lisa Marie Souza helps to load Girl Scout cookies destined for troops in the Middle East Thursday morning on Fort Huachuca. Area Girl Scout troops collected more than 1,800 boxes to be shipped to soldiers. Mark Levy•Herald/Review
Posted on 04/04/2008 5:22:58 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — While deployed in Kuwait, Spc. Herbert Brown remembers how much he and his comrades appreciated the little things from home. So when boxes of Girl Scout cookies were shipped to his unit, the men and women were completely moved by the gesture of good will.
“It’s really hard to express how much this means to the soldiers,” Brown said, recalling what it was like to be on the receiving end of the cookies. “I was in Kuwait in ‘05-’06, and it meant a lot that people I didn’t even know were thinking about me.”
For the past seven years, local Girl Scout troops of the San Pedro Service Unit have been collecting and sending hundreds of boxes of cookies, along with well wishes, drawings and hand-made cards to the deployed troops. On Thursday, 152 cases of cookies were loaded into a van to be shipped to soldiers of the 11th Signal Brigade, marking the seventh year of “Operation Girl Scout Cookies.” Altogether, 1,824 boxes of cookies were sent, equating to a dollar value of $7,296.
Notes bearing thoughtful messages like “Thank you for protecting us” and “We are praying for you” were attached to the boxes and scattered throughout the cases. “The cookies are great, but we really appreciated all those notes and well wishes,” Brown said. “The fact they took the time to do that for us was something none of us will forget.”
As he helped load the cookies into a waiting van, Sgt. Ki-shon Wright, who was in Iraq in 2005-2006, said, “I think this is a real morale booster for the guys there. They see that the people back home really care about them.”
Unlike Brown, Wright didn’t receive cookies when he was deployed.
“I guess it depends on your location,” he said.
In addition to the cookies, students of Huachuca Mountain Elementary School collected items for care packages. Soldiers will be receiving three cases of such personal care items as toothbrushes, floss and assorted snacks. Ten cases of care package items will be shipped out with the cookies.
The San Pedro Service Unit consists of the following areas: Sierra Vista, Huachuca City, Hereford, Palominas, Tombstone and Bisbee. For the first time this year, three Girl Scout troops in Douglas joined the effort, as well.
Credited as the brainchild behind the project, Shari Ward is a cadet senior troop leader and coordinator of Operation Girl Scout Cookies.
“After Sept. 11, 2001, we wanted to do something to show support to our troops,” Ward said. “I coordinated with the 11th Signal Brigade to get the program going, and they’ve been just wonderful.”
When the Girl Scouts have booths at different events, or are out selling cookies, they urge the community to purchase an additional box for the soldiers. Members of the community write their own notes, which are included with the ones sent by the scouts.
Ward, who has been a Scout leader for 15 years, said she’s amazed by how quickly the cookie collection has grown through the years.
“Every year we collect more cookies, and more groups express an interest in getting involved with our effort.”
Four pallets of cookies, along with the care packages were loaded out of an Information Systems Engineering Command, or ISEC, building on Fort Huachuca Thursday morning, to be shipped to Iraq.
“I’m so impressed by these girls and their leaders,” said Dean Smith, who is the ISEC logistics manager. “They have worked so hard, and it’s wonderful to see this kind of community support for our deployed soldiers.”
Herald/Review reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618 or by e-mail at dana.cole@svherald.com.
Participating troops
The following list shows the Girl Scout troops and leaders that participated in “Operation Girl Scout Cookies 2008.”
• Brownie Troop 176, with leader Tracy Rosario.
• Brownie Troop 228, with leaders Tammy Percy and Cheryl Murphy.
• Brownie Troop 271, with leader Sharon Lotts.
• Brownie Troop 419, with leader Janis Wheat.
• Brownie Troop 528, with leaders Sundi Williams and Debbie Kordosky.
• Brownie Troop 1770, with leader Rosie Southie.
• Junior Troop 104, with leader Janis Wheat.
• Junior Troop 217, with leader Sharon Lotts.
• Junior Troop 505, with leader Leisa Boyer.
• Cadette Troop 19, with leader Bonnie Peterson.
• Cadette Troop 567, with leaders Leisa Boyer and Debbie Kordosky
• Cadette/Senior Troop 662, with leaders Cinda Caparulo and Jill Wallace.
• Cadette/Senior Troop 1224, with leaders Janis Wheat and Shari Ward.
• Three troops in Douglas, with leader Roe Peters.
Spc. Lisa Marie Souza helps to load Girl Scout cookies destined for troops in the Middle East Thursday morning on Fort Huachuca. Area Girl Scout troops collected more than 1,800 boxes to be shipped to soldiers. Mark Levy•Herald/Review
bump
They do this out of Wright-Patterson too.
Nice to see and read about. Thanks to those who make this happen.
Some Girl Scout groups will let you order directly for the troops. They’ll take care of shipping.
p.s. ThinMints RULE!
This will make MeMe Roth very happy.
sarc/off
That’s really neat! I’ve heard of the Girl Scouts doing this all over the country. Makes my heart all warm, it does.
I recognize two names on the list, I’ll make it a point to thank those troop leaders next time I see them.
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