A local Girl Scout troop donated all of their cookie sale profits to help the city’s homeless veterans, according to DNAinfo.
Girl Scout Troop 3484 sold more than 6,700 boxes of cookies season, but instead of keeping the profits to pay for field trips or other needs, they donated all of the money—about $4,400 — to the Mayor’s Office of Veterans’ Services to help vets in need.
The troop, all 17 of whom attend the Dalton School on East 89th Street, has been donating its entire cookie profit to local organizations since its inception three years ago. Last Thursday, the girls visited City Hall to deliver a check and to meet the mayor.
“The mayor was very tall and very nice. I’m happy I got to meet him because my brother met him once and got a picture with him and now I can rub it in his face,” said nine-year-old Katalin Mazansky. “He said he was very glad we decided to donate our profits and he said that he thought that small people can make a big difference.”
The funds will go toward the city’s effort to meet and maintain “Functional Zero,” the national standard for ending veteran homelessness by rapidly re-housing those who enter the shelter system. Under the program, more than 1,000 veterans were placed in permanent housing across the city in 2015, according to officials.
Troop 3484 didn’t stop with just their cookie profits. They also launched project “Project Welcome Home” last week to collect donations of kitchen and household items and deliver them to veterans who have recently moved into their new homes. So far, they have received donations from Bodum, Bed, Bath & Beyond, OXO and the Girl Scouts Council to donate pots and pans and scrub brushes but still need towels, sheets and utensils.
“Being the kind of girls they are, they were heartbroken that even though veterans get housed, when they get to their new places they lack basic items like cleaning supplies and sheets, so they went forth and did something,” troop leader Gina Sohn said.
Anyone who is interested in donating can do so online or by emailing the Department of Veterans Services at nbranca@cityhall.nyc.gov.
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