Girl Scout Troop 1549 went nuts selling products in the fall of 2020.
They sold nuts, candy and magazine subscriptions and also accepted $10 donations for the Care to Share program in the event someone didn’t want products but wanted to support Girl Scouts
In all, the eight troop members who raised $5,093 by selling 544 items.
Among the more than 1,600 girls from 300-plus troops in Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana who participated in the fall fundraiser, Troop 1549 collected the most donations for Care to Share.
As a result, they could choose a charity to receive nuts, candy and Girl Scout cookies. On Wednesday, the items were delivered to Anchor House Family Assistance Center and Pantry in Seymour, which is a nonprofit organization that offers shelter for the homeless and a food pantry for the community.
“Anchor House is usually our No. 1 spot around here,” Troop Leader Shawna Banks said. “We’ve known people who had to come here before. It’s just well-known.”
Diana Clark, product sales manager for Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, said Care to Share has been in place for several years through the Fall Product Program.
“Normally, it has just gone to food banks or military for fall,” she said. “A couple of years ago, we asked several troops and girls, ‘What do you want to do with it?’ and they unanimously said, ‘We want to help kids. You can’t eat if you don’t have food,’ so we shifted Care to Share two or three years ago to specifically help childhood hunger.”
For the Fall Product Program, Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana, consisting of troops in southern Indiana and Kentucky, sold 48,385 items. Of those, 773 Care to Share orders were placed. A $10 donation equals one Care to Share order.
Of the 105 Girl Scouts in five troops in Jackson County, 46 sold fall product.
Clark said Troop 1549 and a troop from Paducah, Kentucky, were the top two with Care to Share, and both donated products to food banks.
Each troop gets back 20% of what it sells in the fall, while the rest of the money raised pays for the product and provides Girl Scout programming, Clark said.
Madison Kemp, who turned 11 Friday and is a fifth-grader at Seymour-Jackson Elementary School, was the top seller in Troop 1549. She raised $1,601 on 162 items. That included more than $1,000 in Care to Share.
She said it makes her feel very happy to help Anchor House.
“I love helping people,” she said, noting her goal was to do 11 acts of kindness for her birthday.
“Oh my gosh! I love it,” Clark replied.
Vanessa Marks with Anchor House said the donation is appreciated.
“We’re actually having an outreach coming up soon, so this is going to be a real good treat for a lot of people,” she said after stacking boxes of nuts, candy and cookies inside the facility.
Kemp said she likes Girl Scouts because she can earn prizes and sell items to people.
“I really love the Girl Scout troop that she’s in,” said her mother, Julie Kemp. “These ladies welcomed her with open arms, and they’ve got a really open atmosphere. They treat the girls really special. They really make the girls feel like they fit in … and they go out of their way to make the girls feel good and special and unique.”
Banks is assisted by co-leader Roberta Rooks.
“I am proud of our girls,” Rooks said.
“Yes, very proud of our girls,” Banks said.
Rooks said while the troop may not do as well with Girl Scouts’ largest fundraiser, cookie sales, Banks smiled and said, “We kill it in candy.”
Clark said more of the council’s 900 troops participate in cookie sales, which is going on now.
“The Fall Product Program, it’s smaller than cookies because it’s really a friends and family sale,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even know that Girl Scouts sell nuts and candy and magazines, so it’s just a small, little fundraiser for the girls to do with their troop to get some funds to get the year started, to have a little money to get the year started.”
She said Girl Scouts are doing a really good job using apps to promote and sell products, which is a good option during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It has made it really easier to sell because we can do a lot of contactless,” Clark said. “You can send an email to people, and they can go directly to the girl’s website, order line, pay online and then we can deliver contactless.”