Nine-year-old Alyssa Leggero of Manhattan feels for the U.S. soldiers who are far away from home fighting the war on terror and supporting military efforts around the globe.
So when her south suburban Brownie troop decided again to sell Girl Scout cookies for them, Alyssa put aside $6 of her weekly allowance to buy two boxes to give them a small slice of Americana.
“I just wanted to share some Girl Scout cookies from me,” she said.
On Friday, Alyssa and nine other members of Manhattan’s Brownie Troop 105 boxed nearly 2,500 packages of Thin Mints, shortbread and other varieties for shipment to three military bases in southwest Asia. Because of security reasons, the girls do not know exactly where the soldiers are stationed.
Last year, the troop sent about 1,000 boxes to troops deployed in the war on terror.
They got the idea for the fundraiser after one of the Brownies’ uncles was called up for the war effort.
“That encouraged me to send them a little bit of home,” said Brownie father Robert Caballero of Chicago.
Caballero solicited corporate donations, and his company, Juno Lighting of Des Plaines, bought dozens of boxes. Deven Transport of Bensenville paid for shipping the 2,500 boxes to a military base in Georgia. From there, the Air Force will send the boxes to the troops, said Susan Keller, one of the adult leaders.
Keller, whose brother was activated last year, said the first year of sending boxes started a tradition. Air Force personnel sent the Brownies a flag that was flown over a mission in Afghanistan and tiny flags and letters thanking the girls.
This year, people who donated cookies had the chance to write letters to the soldiers, and the girls in the troop have done other things, such as sending notes to soldiers.
Elisa Caballero, 8, said nearly everyone she asked agreed to buy a $3 box of cookies for the troops.
“Probably because they wanted to do something for those people,” Elisa said as she took part in a human conveyer belt to move the cookies from her house into shipping boxes and then to a truck in the driveway.
Selling cookies for the troops also means that the Girl Scouts end up with more profits. Melanie Podkulski, an adult leader and Manhattan resident, said girls in her troop are going to go on a two-night trip at a ranch in western Illinois this spring, free of charge to the parents, thanks to the proceeds from the Girl Scout cookie sale for the last two years.
“But that’s not our goal,” Podkulski said of the extra profits.
She said the girls want to show support for the soldiers, and the troop leaders hope to include other Girl Scout groups in the area next year.
