CARTHAGE, MO.--- It's a way to send a little piece of home with men and women deploying overseas. Every year, the Jasper County Girl Scouts donate cookies to an organization of their choice, and this year the girls chose a National Guard group close to home.
"We don't always send them to the same people. One year, it was the Army. One year, it was the Navy. This year, it's the National Guard, and it's just a really cool thing to get to be a part of," states Emily Boyer, Girl Scout.
Troop Leader Lisa Nelson believes it helps the girls understand and appreciate the leadership in other organizations.
"They are connecting with local residents who are doing really important work abroad, and then when they hear on the news, about things in Afghanistan or the troops coming home, then they are really that much more connected to that, and the families. There are so many families in our area that are military," states Lisa Nelson, Troop Leader.
109 women and men from the Carthage National Guard will be deployed to Afghanistan in the spring.
"This year, we wanted to see if there was a local unit that would be deploying soon, because, rather than try to ship cookies, which are fairly heavy, we'd rather send them with them when they go. They can have them from the very beginning of their deployment," says Nelson.
The girls hope the project will help comfort the troops while they're away from their home and families.
"Well, it's going to be a lot of cookies, so they might be a little overwhelmed at first, but I really think they're going to enjoy them," says Nelson.
The Girl Scouts of Jasper County hope to sell 78,000 boxes of cookies this year, they are only 1,000 boxes short of reaching that goal.
"We don't always send them to the same people. One year, it was the Army. One year, it was the Navy. This year, it's the National Guard, and it's just a really cool thing to get to be a part of," states Emily Boyer, Girl Scout.
Troop Leader Lisa Nelson believes it helps the girls understand and appreciate the leadership in other organizations.
"They are connecting with local residents who are doing really important work abroad, and then when they hear on the news, about things in Afghanistan or the troops coming home, then they are really that much more connected to that, and the families. There are so many families in our area that are military," states Lisa Nelson, Troop Leader.
109 women and men from the Carthage National Guard will be deployed to Afghanistan in the spring.
"This year, we wanted to see if there was a local unit that would be deploying soon, because, rather than try to ship cookies, which are fairly heavy, we'd rather send them with them when they go. They can have them from the very beginning of their deployment," says Nelson.
The girls hope the project will help comfort the troops while they're away from their home and families.
"Well, it's going to be a lot of cookies, so they might be a little overwhelmed at first, but I really think they're going to enjoy them," says Nelson.
The Girl Scouts of Jasper County hope to sell 78,000 boxes of cookies this year, they are only 1,000 boxes short of reaching that goal.
