Smart little cookies

Now that the scent of Girl Scout cookie season has subsided, my husband is about to go into mourning. “How can these tiny morsels contain so much flavor?” he asks as he taunts me by shoving them into his mouth. He resembles a squirrel with full cheeks getting ready for winter.

Funny you should ask.

I got this information straight from Kara Luke, a Girl Scout leader extraordinaire. Although this is her first year as a Girl Scout troop leader, Kara has the enthusiasm, knowledge and spirit of some of the best leaders, urging these minions of swatch-sewed badges toward more accomplishments than you or I could ever imagine.

I signed up for a couple of boxes of BBB’s favorite mint chocolate in the lobby of my friendly bank. And it felt like such a gutsy move to order a regular favorite of my own, a box of lemon cookies. Realizing that I’m on a diet that poo-poos anything remotely smitten with sugar, I bought conservatively. Otherwise, I would have checked off every box on the list.

About a week later, I got a call from the most pleasant voice. She wanted to drop off BBB’s mint chocolate delights and the not-so-low-calorie lemon cookies. It belonged to the above-mentioned Kara Luke, leader of Troop 836, a group of 23 girls from kindergarten Daisy troops through eighth-grade Cadettes. Officially, they are part of Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina Mid-State, which covers the eastern portion of the state from Myrtle Beach through Beaufort.

These are the good girls of cookies. The council has been the top ABC Bakery Girl Scout cookie seller for four years in a row. The council sold more than 1.3 million boxes of cookies last year, and Kara’s troop alone sold approximately 26,000 boxes. Because of their record sales, they were able to offer cookies at one of the lowest prices in the country, $5 a box.

Now, if you think it’s raining dollar bills at Girl Scout headquarters, you would be wrong. From cookie sales, troops earn 95 cents per box sold that goes directly to them. Being the investigating reporter that I’m not, I pressed a little harder to find out if they’re all rolling around in new uniforms bedazzled with diamonds and rubies or, better yet, buying Prada handbags worthy of carrying their cookies.

“We are planning on using our profit to fund a few local trips, a group camping trip next year, a sleepover or two, new uniforms next year, and we will pay for sleepaway camp for our girls who want to attend this summer,” Luke said.

They also donate a portion of their sales to charities including CAPA, HELP of Beaufort and HALS, helping make life a little better on this tiny planet we call Earth. There are many ways to show that a person matters. These young girls have found that the true measure of humanity starts with one small cookie.

Luke said the troop does have a goal of going to Disney World. They have been saving, but each time they get close, they choose to give to others in need.

Promise me that if you ever read a job application that says the applicant was a member of Troop 836 from Eastern South Carolina, you’ll hire them immediately.

Ethically, I cannot suggest anyone write a blank check to Troop 836 to help them get to Orlando’s Disney World, but if anyone knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody…