Sweet Support: Exchange Ships Nearly 200,000 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to Troops Overseas

DALLAS – It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service is continuing its longstanding support of Girl Scout troops by shipping nearly 200,000 boxes to Europe and the Pacific.

“For more than 20 years, the Exchange has provided a taste of home by shipping Girl Scout Cookies to locations outside the United States in time for selling season,” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Osby, the Exchange’s senior enlisted advisor. “We do this as a morale booster for service members and their families who are far from home.”

More than 103,000 boxes were shipped to the Exchange’s distribution center in Germany this year, and nearly 91,000 were shipped to distribution centers in South Korea and Japan. In Europe, they were then sent to pickup locations in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Egypt. In the Pacific, they moved to nearly 15 pickup locations in Japan and Korea.

For the Girl Scouts, the cookies are about more than selling sweet treats.

“I would like to thank the Exchange for their continued support for all our Girl Scout troops in Okinawa,” said Tischa Kahrs, wife of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew Kahrs, Assistant Flight Chief, 67th Support Section, and mother of Kaila Kahrs, Junior Girl Scout, and Emilie Kahrs, Brownie Girl Scout. “The cookie program is so important to the Girl Scouts because it teaches the girls life skills and the money raised helps them determine what activities our Scout troops will be able to participate in this.”

In early November, the Girl Scouts supplied the Exchange with the exact orders they wanted for their troops overseas. Shipping began in mid-November when the Exchange picks up the cookies from the Kentucky bakery that makes them. In mid-January, the cookies arrived at the Exchange distribution centers.

“The process starts early because we want to make sure everything is in place,” Osby said. “We know what we need to do, how many containers we need, the size container we need and every location the shipment is going so that we can get the containers to all the Girl Scout pickups.”

The cookie deliveries exemplify the Exchange’s motto, “We Go Where You Go,” and its core value of family serving family.

“It’s great for the families who are stationed overseas with service members,” Osby said. “It helps them be able to participate and it brings a little bit of comfort. When their families are happy, their morale is up.”

Since 1895, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange) has gone where Soldiers, Airmen, Guardians, and their families go to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 54th-largest retailer in the United States. 100% of Exchange earnings support military communities. In the last 10 years, your Exchange benefit has provided $3.4 billion in earnings for critical military Quality-of-Life programs. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors. The Exchange is a 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemorative Partner, planning and conducting events and activities that recognize the service, valor, and sacrifice of Vietnam Veterans and their families in conjunction with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our website at ShopmyExchange.com or follow us on Twitter.

Marisa Conner

Marisa is a PR executive and writer in the Public Affairs department at Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES)

www.aafes.com