A New York City-based Girl Scouts troop just closed out cookie season on a sweet note by selling more than 32,000 boxes of Girl Scouts cookies in one week. While plenty of troops sell thousands of boxes of cookies each spring, what makes Troop 6000 particularly unique is that the group is made up of approximately 300 children living in homeless shelters.
NBC News reported that this is the first time the troop participated in the annual cookie sale since the group was formed in 2016. With the girls living in homeless shelters, logistically, it was difficult for them to deliver cookies to buyers in New York. As a result, the troop worked with Kellogg’s to set up shop at a Kellogg’s café in Union Square. In addition, the girls helped to develop a Girl Scout cookie-inspired menu of specialty cereal bowls.
The troop’s original goal was to sell at least 6,000 boxes of cookies. However, by day six, the group sold a noteworthy 32,500 boxes. This was, in large part, due to the troop’s powerful story spreading like wildfire on social media. The group also received more than $15,000 in donations. Those proceeds will go towards financing camping activities, programs and trips for the girls.
“I’m so excited that I got a chance to sell cookies, just like any other Girl Scout,” Sanaa, a 10-year-old from the troop, told NBC News. “Next year we are going to reach a higher goal.”
Meridith Maskara, CEO of Girl Scouts Greater New York, championed the sale as a “resounding success.”
“They felt this support—they felt someone is on their side,” Maskara said. “When a shelter opens in a neighborhood, they are not always told that.”
Troop 6000 was created in 2016 by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city Department of Homeless Services.