What do you do with hundreds of Girl Guides cookies you cannot sell.
Alderwood student Maria Tobin has given away to neighbours some of her tasty Guild Guides of Canada cookies as girls in the 110-year-old organization have been stopped from selling them due to COVID-19
Maria left the boxes with a nice note in the mailboxes of appreciative residents in the Brown’s Line and Horner Ave. area.
“I hope you are well and staying safe and healthy in this time,” she wrote. “Please accept this complimentary box of Girl Guides cookies in the spirit of neighbourly solidarity.”
Maria’s says “my family is fortunate to be healthy, safe and together and for this we are grateful.”
Her 10th Guides leader Liz Canrinus has more than 60 boxes of the popular cookies stored in her garage as she awaits for the situation to improve, in regards to staying at home, social distancing and hand washing.
“We don’t know what this means for our future funding as the cookie sales are the major source of fundraising for the group,” wonders Maria’s mom, Sonja.
Jill Zelmanovits, Girl Guides of Canada Chief Executive Officer, says the safety of the girls and adult members are a number one priority
“We do not expect to generate the same revenue from membership fees or cookies in the near term,” Zelmanovits wrote on their website. “This has very serious implications which have forced us to make critical decisions to reduce expenses to ensure our long-term sustainability.”
She says 3.7 million boxes of ‘classic’ cookies were shipped out just before the deadly COVID-19 and physical distancing measures largely brought the country to a halt.
Selling cookies is one of the largest yearly fundraisers for Girl Guides and once bakers are reimbursed for their product, profits are then kept by local units to plan events and help keep registration costs down.
The Girl Guides of Canada was formed in 1910, with the cookies being sold since 1927. The funds are used for activities like hiking and camping. Some of the cookies will be sold at Farm Boy, Shoppes of Alderwood plaza, with proceeds going to 92nd Sparks, 64B Brownies and 10th Guides. You can place an order by email to liz.canrinus@sympatico.ca