While cookies may be a pantry staple for many, Bert Heeringa is hoping pantries will soon be stocked with Girl Guide ones.
Heeringa, Courtenay Canadian Tire dealer, is stepping up to assist the local Comox Valley chapter of the Girl Guides as their annual spring fundraiser cookie drive has been impacted by social distancing practices from COVID-19.
Members from the local chapter usually set up shop within the entryway of the store selling their cookies, but as they can’t do that, Heeringa has purchased 60 dozen boxes in order to sell on their behalf.
“Who doesn’t like Girl Guide cookies?” he said and added the boxes will be sold by the checkout counters for $5.
The Girl Guides have been selling cookies at the store for at least 25 years, Heeringa explained, and he wanted to provide an outlet for the tradition to continue.
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He purchased the boxes outright and hopes to sell as many as possible with no intention of a profit.
The boxes were placed by the tills at the store Monday and said many boxes were already being purchased.
Diamond Isinger, provincial commissioner of Girl Guides of Canada in B.C., said while a lot has changed since Girl Guides have begun selling cookies about 100 years ago, they are currently looking to find new, innovative and safe ways to sell for their annual fundraiser.
“We are looking at any and all suppliers; there are a number of Canadian Tire locations that have stepped up,” she noted and added that many Guides are finding ways to sell cookies through safe methods, such as pre-orders from friends and families.
Isinger explained cookie sales are used to support various goals, such as camps, trips and science days, and support such as Heeringa’s is “a really powerful resource for us,” she added.
“(Girl Guides) empowers girls to take the lead and to be a friend, an ally and to better themselves, and the sales of cookies contribute to that.”
There are about 2,000 Girl Guides within the Pacific Shores Area, which service the mid-to-north Island, and Isinger noted there are about 66,000 cases of cookies to sell.
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