DIANE MAKAR MURPHY Girl Scouts respond to 9/11 with Hero Packs

Pop quiz:
1. Which cookie maker is second only to Nabisco in sales?
2. Whose cookie sales topped $500 million last year?
3. Which group outsells all other cookie makers the first quarter of every year?
Answer: Girl Scouts
What started out as a good idea for a fund-raiser for the 90-year-old organization has become an eagerly anticipated sales event. This year, however, Girl Scout's Lake to River Council is adding a new dimension.
After Sept. 11, the phones in the Lake to River Girl Scout Council office in Niles started ringing.
"In the weeks following the catastrophe, we got calls, mostly from troop leaders, asking if troops could raise money going door to door, or help in some way," said Susan Paczak, the council's director of training/communication. "The leaders had already made an effort to discuss the event with the girls, but they wanted to do more."
Rules against it: Girl Scouts, however, have a policy which prevents them from fund raising for other organizations. "The policy is designed to keep the girls from being exploited," Paczak said, admitting the "cuteness" factor doesn't hurt Girl Scouts' sales capabilities.
Volunteers in the Lake to River office had an informal meeting, plopping unceremoniously onto the floor. The all-female group started brainstorming.
The Scouts already had received permission to add flags to their uniforms. A letter-writing campaign was abruptly stopped with the anthrax scare.
They started talking about how they hadn't truly appreciated the security forces until Sept. 11. "Then someone said, 'Our response needs to be uniquely Girl Scout.' That's when we started talking about cookies," Paczak said.
The two ideas came together, and Hero Packs were born.
For $15 total, four boxes of Girl Scout cookies will be sent anywhere in the world to the serviceperson, police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical personnel of your choice. Shipping and packaging is included, along with a personalized note expressing "your gratitude and the gratitude of all America."
The selections: "We picked Thin Mints, Shortbread, Caramel deLites and Peanut Butter sandwiches," Paczak said. The selection was based on popularity and because those were the ones that made the best fit in the packages.
Paczak is confident about the response the recipients will have. "I gave my son a case of his favorite Girl Scout cookies when he was stationed at Parris Island," she said. "I told him, 'Feel free to share.'
"I found out months later that he had hidden the cookies in the trunk of his car so that he could eat all 12 boxes himself," Paczak said and laughed. "I can't even imagine what they tasted like. It was probably 105 degrees in that trunk!"
The council's executive director, Karen Conklin, who has a son in the Air Force, came up with the name "Hero Pack." Said Paczak, "It was only natural."
The packs end up providing a double benefit.
Money distribution: On a typical $3 box of cookies, less than one-third goes to pay for the baking. The rest stays in the local community. Nearly 10,000 girls benefit in Ashtabula, Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Cookie sales contribute to the Girl Scout program (to which my daughter belongs), training leaders and teaching girls and young women about careers, finances, camping, goal setting, teamwork, public speaking, first aid and more.
"We'll be able to fill orders till the end of April," Paczak said.
To send a hero some cookies, call the Lake to River Council office in Niles at (800) 362-9430 or (330) 652-5877. If you don't have someone in mind, the council can give you a name.
murphy@vindy.com