Scouts are vigilant about collecting cookie money

Scouts are vigilant aboutcollecting cookie money
EDITOR:
Please allow me the opportunity to eliminate any confusion about the recent effort by Girl Scouts of Lake to River Council to collect delinquent cookie monies.
The procedures followed during our annual Girl Scout cookie program do not permit Girl Scouts to receive payment for cookies ordered until those cookies are delivered. When all ordered cookies are delivered, the adult in the troop who is managing the cookie program is to deduct the troop's portion of the proceeds and deposit it in the troop account for use by the troop. The balance is then forwarded to the Girl Scout Council, where the profits support the many programs available to the Girl Scouts in our four- county jurisdiction.
In a small number of families or troops, the money received from the cookie customer is not forwarded to the council. The family or troop is then contacted in order to correct the situation. Many times payment schedules are established to allow the family or troop to repay the amount owed.
If, after many months of attempting to collect the outstanding balance, the monies have not been forwarded, an investigation by local law enforcement agencies is initiated. This was the case recently when the Girl Scouts of Lake to River Council sought the assistance of the Columbiana County Sheriff's Department in collecting the funds still outstanding in Columbiana County from the 1999 and 2000 cookie program.
The Girl Scout Council is very grateful for the public support of the annual cookie program. Without our cookie customers we would not be able to provide a quality program to our members in Columbiana, Mahoning, Trumbull or Mahoning counties. We are merely attempting to recover monies taken from girls who have set goals and worked hard to fund the activities of their troop.
Girl Scouts of Lake to River Council are proud to serve 10,000 Girl Scout families. We are a values-based organization. We believe that our adults are role models for our girls. Adults who do not pay for cookies are released. Hundreds of Girl Scout adults donate their time, talent, and energy to help the girls of our community grow up to be citizens we can all respect. If you know a Girl Scout leader or Girl Scout volunteer, please thank her or him.
They are making the community better for all of us.
KAREN E. CONKLIN
Niles
X The writer is executive director of Girl Scouts of the Lake to River Council
Most gamblers knowwhen to hold or fold 'em
EDITOR
A recent letter bashed Bertram de Souza regarding his suggestion to include gambling in the list of activities at the new convocation center and claimed that the human toll that gambling takes is not worth the positive economic impact that it also brings.
The fact is that those who are prone to gamble are going to do so whether it's locally available or not. Also, the vast majority of gamblers know their limits and only spend what they can afford to lose whether it's on bingo, the lottery, or on horses and slots at the outlets in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
I find it somewhat disingenuous when the local clergy sings the blues about how bad gambling is for the Valley and yet they don't think twice about using it in the form of bingo to pad the coffers of the church. It's sad to say, but gambling might be the only option to bring the Mahoning Valley out of the depths of the economic stupor that it has experienced since the early '80s when the last remnants of the once vibrant steel mills closed.
BILL JOHNSON
Boardman