Girl Scouts give troops overseas a taste of home.

By AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 4/16/2003

Spring announces its arrival with a multitude of signs: budding trees, green stalks, chirping birds, bright cardboard cookie boxes.

Every spring, Girl Scout cookies arrive. It has become so much of a phenomenon that people have come to associate spring with uniformed Girl Scouts hawking cookies.

But the troops overseas will miss the arrival of spring back home. While it's not possible to send them growing plants and chirping birds, soldiers and Marines can receive the unofficial signal of spring.

Brownies in Troop 409 collected donations to send cookies over to military troops. But they didn't stop at cookies. The girls in the troop also donated items like toiletries, candy and powdered drink mixes.

In all, the girls and their leaders collected enough cookies and supplies to send 19 boxes. They got most of the names from a family friend of Delay O'Donnell, whose parents Chris and Michelle O'Donnell helped put the project together.

Three of the names came from people who donated money for cookies. People gave them some names and contact information when they gave money.

The girls in the troop were eager to help the soldiers.

Assistant troop leader Alice Henemyre noted that projects like this one are trademarks of Girl Scouts.

"It gives them a sense of helping others, which is what Girl Scouts is all about," she said.

And the girls wanted to help the people who are serving their country. Rebecca Henemyre, 9, was happy to help the troops "because they're fighting for our freedom."

All of the girls agree that the soldiers will be thrilled to receive the cookies.

"Everybody likes Girl Scout cookies," said Stephanie Lawrence, a Girl Scout cadet who helps out with Troop 409.

"Because Girl Scout cookies are really yummy," said Courtney Paul.

The brownies feel that Thin Mints will be the soldiers' favorite cookie, even though the chocolate might melt in the Middle Eastern heat.

Kelsey Loco had some advice for soldiers who want to save their Thin Mints from melting. "If you, like, have something cold, it would not melt," she said.

Kelsey recommended using a cooler. Delaney advised the soldiers to use napkins to get the chocolate off of their fingers. She said they shouldn't lick the chocolate off.

While eager to help, the girls had some interesting ideas about the hardships soldiers must endure.

Rebecca thought that the soldiers would like the baby wipes included in the boxes, since the troops don't get showers and have to take baths in the rain.

Samantha Dickson knew the soldiers would appreciate the food in the boxes.

"They might be sad because they don't have any food," she said.

Although they might not be in circumstances as dire as the Brownies believe, the soldiers probably will enjoy the boxes nonetheless.

"It'll make them know that the people at home do think about them and care about them," Henemyre said.

And the Girl Scout cookies, which are unavailable overseas, may represent even more to the soldiers who receive them.

"It's a taste of home," said troop leader Wanda Lawrence.

Date published: 4/16/2003