Nearly double the amount of nuts and candy ordered by Girl Scout Troop 1239 recently was delivered to Missy Casner’s house.
After the girls took orders online and on paper, Casner expected to receive 295 items.
When they arrived via FedEx, though, she went into the garage where her husband, Monty, was sorting them and realized there was a lot more than expected.
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She wound up learning there was a mishap by the company.
“There were multiple troops across the country that had the same number, and somebody got them mixed up,” Casner said. “Mine’s 1239, but I also got a troop called 239, and so I got extra product.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the company couldn’t take the items back. Casner was told she could donate the items — ranging in price from $6 to $12 apiece — but not sell them.
“I was up all night because it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh! This is a lot of stuff,’ because it’s a lot of product,” she said. “It’s not just 10 things. It’s a lot.”
She consulted with co-leader Holly Fields to figure out where to donate the nut and candy tins and boxes.
One of the first places they thought of was the Boys and Girls Club of Seymour, which has been open longer hours during the pandemic to give kids a place to go while their parents work or school is out.
When Casner called the club, Unit Director Jeff Joray answered the phone.
“I go, ‘Are you sitting down?’” Casner said. “I think he thought I was going to donate like maybe 10 things or something like that. He’s like, ‘What? Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this.’”
He told Casner the club is averaging between 125 and 150 kids, so she delivered 150 items there. Someone else had already donated wrapping paper, so that was used Friday for the kids to wrap the boxes and tins to take home and give to their parents.
“Jeff thought that it would be a really cool thing because of the fact that some of them don’t ever get to get anything for their parents,” Casner said.
Program Director Kendra Harris helped the kids with wrapping.
“Thank you so much for the donation,” she told Casner in an email. “The parents very much appreciated the nice surprise.”
The rest of the items were donated to Girls Inc. of Jackson County and the Seymour Department of Public Works.
DPW Director Chad Dixon accepted the donation in mid-November and distributed the treats to his employees, and Girls Inc. Site and Teen Director Kristi Banister coordinated the distribution at the Seymour club.
“One of our girls could not wait to give her present to her grandpa. She asked him if he likes chocolate or gummy bears. She gave him the Chocolate Monkeys. The grandpa said she got home and was so excited to be able to give him a gift,” Banister said. “A couple other girls were giving theirs to Santa because he gives them so much.”
Troop 1239 has done other good deeds recently, too.
Members bought more than 200 toothbrushes for Mental Health America of Jackson County to give to clients as part of the Christmas Gift Lift project, and they supported The Sunflower Studio’s Mammy and Pappy program that provided Christmas gift bags to nursing home residents and staff members.
They also sang Christmas carols virtually for residents of Lutheran Community Home in Seymour.
“They had us on a big screen, but they all had to be spread out, and we couldn’t see them all,” Casner said. “I think they just really loved seeing the kids’ faces.”
Diane Yeadon, the nursing facility’s director of life enrichment, emailed Casner after the caroling.
“Thank you so very much for singing for us,” Yeadon wrote. “Seeing the kids’ faces helped bring a smile to their faces and seeing them singing. We appreciate you very much.”