Left to right: Sarah Jones (Troop 1002), Steffanie Rosko (Troop 1190), Rachel Russo (Troop 1002), Mahe’ Khan (Troop 1002), and Stephanie Hood (Troop 1002) present Girl Scout cookies to Ronnie Micciulla, director of American Recreational Military Service. Girl Scouts from Monmouth and Ocean counties banded together this spring to donate cookies to military troops stationed overseas. Through the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore Gift of Caring Program and American Recreational Military Services (ARMS), Howell Ambassador Troop 1190 volunteered to run this program for the third consecutive year.
Steffanie Rosko, 17, a member of Troop 1190, collected, sorted and packed up the cookies on behalf of ARMS.
In addition to the 43 Girl Scout troops participating from Howell, troops from Beachwood, Bradley Beach, Brick Township, Jackson, Navesink, Neptune and Toms River contributed to the success of this program, according to a press release. Ronnie Micciulla, director of ARMS, said, “I know at times it seems like they are ‘only cookies,’ but that is not what they mean to our troops who are deployed. Girl Scout cookies to them mean America. It means that little touch of home that they miss so much.
“You cannot believe the letters we get thanking us for the cookies, and for what it means to our troops to see them in their boxes as they open them. We even get requests for certain boxes of cookies. Just a month ago, I received a letter from anAir Force pilot who had just flown a mission over Afghanistan. “She requested some boxes of lemon cookies. She told us that after each mission, she relaxed with a few lemon cookies and a cup of tea. This truly reminded her of home. Without your help, this could never be accomplished. Pass our thank you to all the girls. They are the future of America and they are truly girls we can be proud of,” Micciulla said.
According to the press release, 2,678 boxes of Girl Scout cookies were delivered to the Toms RiverArmory in June. Anyone who is interested in helping American men and women who are stationed overseas may visit the website at www.supportsarms.org.