GSKS

Girl Scout Cookie customers can help Kansas Girl Scouts reach an important milestone this year: 100,000 “Cookie Shares” benefiting military members and their families, local charities, and food pantries.

Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland has distributed more than 94,500 packages of Girl Scout Cookies through its Cookie Share Program since the program started in 2010, with more than half going to military members and their families, including those stationed overseas. Last year, Kansas Girl Scouts sold 16,150 Cookie Shares – that’s 16,150 boxes of cookies customers bought and donated to soldiers and local charities.

Girl Scout Cookie customers who participate in the Cookie Share Program are simply making a donation, with a single Cookie Share priced at the same $4 as a single package of cookies. Cookie Shares are also tax-deductible and provide a great opportunity for customers to support local girls and help others at the same time.

Last year, Jessica Lemons, a Garden City resident and Navy Reservist who served in Afghanistan, described what it was like to receive a Girl Scout Cookie Share.

“While I was deployed, we received three huge boxes filled with Girl Scout Cookies, and the looks on the soldiers’ faces reminded me of children on Christmas morning seeing all the presents,” Lemons said. “We all ran to tear open the box and get our favorites.”

“It was the perfect slice of home for us,” Lemons said of Girl Scout Cookies. “I also remember reading the letters from the Girl Scout troops and them thanking us, when in reality, we wanted to send them big thank-yous for thinking of us and bringing a piece of home to Afghanistan.”

Agencies across the state benefit from Cookie Shares, including the Kansas Food Bank, Catholic Charities, Kansas National Guard, McConnell Air Force Base, and many others.

The 2016 Girl Scout Cookie Sale ends March 20, so there is still time to support Girl Scouts, members of the military, and Kansas charities through the Cookie Share Program. All proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie Sale, every penny after paying the baker, stay in Kansas to support local girls, helping pay for camp, uniforms, Girl Scout troop activities, financial aid, and community service projects across the state.

To participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Share Program, ask a local Girl Scout or enter your zip code at girlscoutcookies.org to find the nearest cookie booth. Customers can also call the Cookie Hotline at 888-686-MINT (6468) for assistance connecting with local Girl Scouts to buy cookies.