Oceanside Girl Scouts initiate Operation Cookie With U.S. Coast Guard

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Young comrades of the Oceanside Association of Girl Scouts went on a mission to deliver cookies to members of the United States Coast Guard — and it was a huge success.

On May 16, Oceanside Daisy Troop 2145 participated in an event referred to as the “Cookie Drop,” where girls who sold 100 or more boxes of donated Girl Scout cookies were honored. They were given the opportunity to visit the service men and women at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Jones Beach and personally drop off the boxes of cookies as part of the Operation Cookie program, which spokeswoman Michelle Geluso said aims to teach the Girl Scouts about goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skill, and business ethics — as outlined on the Girl Scouts of Nassau County official website. These are essential to the girls for enhancing their ability to lead and create success, according to the GSNC.

“The girls enjoyed learning exactly what the U.S. Coast Guard does,” said co-leader and parent Luana Policaro Johnson, adding that the Girl Scouts were given a tour of the base. At the end of the day, they gave the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard boxes of Girl Scout cookies. “It was an experience the girls won’t forget,” Policaro Johnson said.

Over the past 12 years, the GSNC have shipped over 650,000 boxes of Girl Scouts Cookies to soldiers overseas in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, according to their website. They also held Cookie Drops at the Garden City army base, and the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.