Daisy Troop sells cookies for a cause
Neighbors | Grace Wyler .Olivia Stoner (left) and Anna Ashburn wait for a turn to work on their Daisy Scout troop's bookshelf at their troop meeting at Home Depot on Feb. 18.
Neighbors | Grace Wyler .Lilliana Schmidt, 5, waits for instructions before she gets to work on a bookshelf. The Daisy Scouts of Troop 80680 built a bookshelf for the West Chester Head Start preschool at the Austintown Home Depot on Feb. 18.
Neighbors | Grace Wyler .Austintown's Daisy Scout Troop 80680 has sold over 2,500 boxes of girl scout cookies this year. The troop is using a portion of their profits to start a lending library at the West Chester Head Start preschool. From left, Daisy Scouts Jessica White, 5, Megan Rosko, 7, Chloe Pruchniewicz, 6, and Kendal Lightner, 7.
Neighbors | Grace Wyler .Kylie Ricker (left) and Anna Ashburn, both kindergartners at Woodside Elementary School, practice their hammering skills on styrofoam at their Daisy Troop's trip to the Austintown Home Depot.
By GRACE WYLER
gwyler@vindy.com
Although the girls of Daisy Troop 80680 are the youngest Girl Scout age group, they have already learned the awesome power of the sweet tooth.
The Austintown troop — made up of only 14 girls ages 5 through 7 — has sold over 2,500 cookies this year.
The girls have decided to direct their newfound sales prowess to do service in the community through the Girl Scouts’ “Cookies 4 a Change” project.
The troop, which keeps a portion of the profits of their cookie sales, will use some of the money to start a lending library at the Head Start preschool in West Chester.
“I think it is pretty impressive that these very young girls sold so many boxes!” said Kimberly Graves, the communications coordinator for Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio. “And they’re using the money to do good in the community.”
Each girl has sold 180 boxes on average. The troop has done neighborhood canvassing and conducted a cookie sale in front of WalMart, Meggan Sutherland, the troop leader, said.
Parents have also lent a hand by selling boxes to relatives and at their workplaces.
“I asked so many people, and my mom and dad, they brought the boxes to work,” Jessica White, one of the troop’s top sellers, said.
Megan Rosko, a first-grader at Lloyd Elementary School, agreed. Her parents have helped her to become one of the troop’s top sellers for the second consecutive year, she said.
To kick off their community service project, the Daisy Scouts worked together to build a bookshelf for the preschool at their monthly meeting on Feb. 18.
With the help of the Austintown Home Depot, the troop was able to put together a sturdy bookshelf that will hold the books for the new lending library.
The troop has also started donating used books to fill the library. The troop hopes to collect 100 books by the end of the cookie sale, Sutherland said.
“A lot of the girls are learning how to read so they wanted to do something about reading,” Sutherland said. “A lot of them are also growing into new books, so it seemed like a good time to donate our old books.”
The troop will be selling cookies and collecting books Mar. 7 in front of Wal Mart, which is Girl Scout Sunday.