• DALLAS
The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) is delivering another “taste of home” by shipping more than 217,800 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to military communities in Europe and the Pacific.
Girl Scout Councils in more than 35 overseas military communities — including Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and remote locations, such as Kwajalein and Saipan — received cookies in January to sell outside participating Exchange stores.
Cookies may be purchased from booths set up in front of participating PXs, BXs and other locations on overseas installations.
For more than 20 years, the Exchange has shipped Girl Scout Cookies to military communities overseas. The latest selling season starts on Feb. 7.
“Having been deployed several times in my career, the Exchange and the Girl Scouts always found a way to get cookies to me and my soldiers,” said Col. Everett “Bud” Lacroix, the Exchange’s Europe, Southwest Asia, and Africa Region commander.
“It was a special taste that meant a lot,” he recalled. “Now that I’m stationed in Germany, I always get excited when I see the Girl Scouts selling cookies at the PX. I’m especially looking forward to them this year.”
HOW IT WORKS
The USA Girl Scouts Overseas (USAGSO), the Girl Scouts of USA’s overseas branch, supplied the Exchange with order requests in late October.
The Exchange processed the order requests with the vendor’s bakery in Louisville, Ky., then arranged a carrier to pick up the orders for delivery to the Exchange’s Dan Daniel and West Coast distribution centers. Orders were shipped in January.
MORALE BOOST
The mission exemplifies the Exchange’s “We Go Where You Go” motto so service members such as Army Capt. Taylor Love, who serves with 68th Theater Medical Command in Sembach, Germany, can savor “a taste of home.”
“After a year without Thin Mints, I can’t wait to grab a box,” Love said. “It’s the little things that make being away from home easier.”
For Col. Robert Allman III, 21st Theater Sustainment Command Chaplain at Panzer Kaserne, Germany, a box of Girl Scout cookies is a boon for morale.
“Girl Scout cookies were always a huge morale booster when I was deployed in a remote location,” Allman said. “It’s one of those small things that keeps us connected to home.”
SUPPORTING MILITARY CHILDREN
The collaboration also demonstrates the Exchange’s commitment to support military children.
“This mission exemplifies what the Exchange is all about — family serving family,” said Col. Jason Beck, the Exchange’s Pacific Region commander. “It is important to remember service is a family affair and children, in many ways, also ‘serve’ and make sacrifices as members of the community.
“This collaboration ensures military children do not have to miss out on opportunities such as the Girl Scouts, no matter where service takes families.”
Kristina Wise, USAGSO membership manager at the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC), said the collaboration allows Girl Scouts living overseas to participate in the one of the world’s largest entrepreneurial programs.
“The cookie program helps teach Girl Scouts key skills, which are not only important for selling cookies, but also for use in their daily lives,” Wise said. “It is through positive relations like this that Scouts are able to fully participate in the Girl Scout leadership experience, even when they are far from home.
“The Exchange helped ensure the success of the program by providing a safe and accessible location for Scouts to set up booths and bring a taste of home.”
Shoppers can contact their local Exchange for more information.
Source: AAFES
Edited by Larry Lapka
