Savannah Newton actually lights up in excitement as she anticipates her first cookie blitz in Oak Bay.
“I like selling cookies,” said the second-year Brownie with 1st Chatham Girl Guides who only sold door-to-door last year. “This year I’m doing it with Emily.”
Emily MacMillan, for her part, has a great story about last year’s cookie sales.
“The mayor came along and bought lots of cookies,” she said with a grin.
Selling a lot of cookies means more camping for girls from the local level to international travel.
“They are our main mode of fundraising for Girl Guides across the country,” said Neala St. Hilaire, a Pathfinders leader and Chatham District commissioner. “We really try to make it so parents, they pay the fee, they sell the cookies and that would be all they need to do (financially).”
Registration, and the fall tea, provide some of the maintenance of Bowker Hall where 1st Chatham meet, along with other incidentals.
“The cookies go more toward the events the kids are doing,” St. Hilaire said.
For example, this year one unit bumped its cookie order to 95 cases, the norm is 65, to help fund an overnight trip at Vancouver Aquarium.
“They are going to be out in full force,” St. Hilaire said.
The cookies also support every level, from local groups to international work, and at the Oak Bay Girl Guide hall there are at least two girls slated for international travel this year – to Mexico and India. They fund the provincial and national websites and other administration tools that make the volunteers’ jobs easier, St. Hilaire said.
The young ladies will also sell their classic chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies in a one-day blitz of Oak Bay Avenue. They plan to set up stands March 28 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. along Oak Bay Avenue between Wilmot Place and Monterey Avenue. The girls usually spread out along both sides of the street, making sure that they do not interrupt the flow of pedestrian traffic or block businesses.
Girls will do door-to-door sales as usual, covering the realm of Oak Bay.
cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.