LOUISVILLE, Colo. — The fourth grade girls in Girl Scout Troop 76934 just wanted to sell cookies.
But when the Marshall Fire tore through Boulder County, it destroyed the homes of three members of the troop.
“Even our uniforms were lost,” said troop co-leader Lara Ackerman.
Ackerman, who has a fourth-grader in the troop, also lost her home. The group of girls was going to meet only days after the Marshall Fire. With the help of Girl Scouts of Colorado and donations from other troops, the meeting happened as scheduled.
“This is one small thing that we would have normally done, so let’s get there and everybody was glad we did that,” Ackerman said.
Then came the decision of whether or not to sell cookies during cookie season in February. The troop’s cookie advertising signs, documents, and more were all lost in the fire. Several girls who would normally sell door to door in their neighborhoods didn’t have neighborhoods anymore.
Yet it wasn’t even a question.
“All the girls still wanted to sell cookies,” said troop co-leader Carie Whalen. “Even if it was a smaller goal — a little less — they all said they wanted to do it.”
The troop decided to set up cookie booths outside of stores in the Louisville area instead, giving the girls a sense of normalcy as they sold Samoas and Thin Mints.
“It’s really having that sense that one more thing hasn’t been taken away from us,” Ackerman said.
The girls sold as many boxes as they could to customers, trying to reach a smaller goal in order to fund the troop’s activities for the coming year. Then Denver7 stepped in.
“Denver7 would like to make an order of cookies,” Denver7 anchor Jason Gruenauer said to the girls and the troop leaders, gathered around the cookie-filled table. “We would like to order $5,000 worth of cookies.”
Troop leaders gasped, while the fourth graders began to cheer.
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“I’m just blown away. There was no way we were going to make our goal this year and you guys just made our goal for us,” Whalen said.
Money from the Denver7 Gives Wildfire Fund will pay for the cookies, and fund the troop and their upcoming activities. The cookies will be donated to local first responders in Louisville and Superior.
“It just lets you see the good in humanity and people, and this is just another example,” Whalen said.
The girls get to see what a caring community looks like.
“If we think about, emotionally, where they’ve been since Dec. 30, this is the happiest we’ve seen them,” Ackerman said.
Her daughter, Girl Scout Daisy Ackerman, agreed with a smile.
“This isn’t a dream. This is a miracle. So, thank you very much,” she said.
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