Longmont Girl Scouts choose OUR Center as Hometown Heroes

Two Longmont Girl Scout troops picked OUR Center as their Hometown Heroes this year.

Girls from Troops 77918 and 77904, both out of Longmont, donated 840 pounds of Girl Scout cookies as part of the Hometown Heroes program. Hometown Heroes, according to the Girl Scouts of Colorado website, centers around teaching the girls philanthropy and community service as part of their cookie sales every year.

“I like to choose a service project that the girls are interested in and wrap that into the cookie season,” said Krista Allard, leader of Troop 77918. 

Allard has chosen other Hometown Heroes in previous years, including the Boulder County Veteran’s Services. Both Girl Scout troops also helped with the Turkey Turnout food drive last November, a joint collaboration with local Boy Scout troops to benefit OUR Center. The girls from Troop 77904 chose OUR Center as their Hometown Heroes when their troop was founded, with this being their fourth year of donations.

“It’s all about finding the connection for the girls and making sure they understand how they can impact the community,” Allard said.

The girls from both troops had to get creative this past cookie season, to keep with COVID restrictions and precautions. Though a few of the girls still had the traditional tables in front of a store, most transitioned into a hybrid of older door-to-door tactics and online sales. 

“With this year being so funky and less opportunities for booths in front of retail spaces due to restrictions and family comfort levels we had to get creative,” Allard said. “This year we designed a door hanger with QR codes for our troop, and our sister troop, so the girls could make contact with our local community in a safe and contactless way. After an order was placed on the girls website, the order was then delivered contactlessly to their door!”

“It was really successful, with this modern twist on how scouts would do cookie sales when we grew up,” said Kelly Davidson, leader of Troop 77904. “The girls got really creative making videos and getting help from their parents with social media.”

Nicole Drane, who’s daughter Eleanor is a part of Troop 77918, was impressed with how the troop leaders helped coach the parents and scouts through cookie season. The end result for her daughter was meeting a personal sales goal and contributing 70 boxes of cookies to the fundraiser.

“It was really lovely to participate in the donations for OUR Center, so many of our friends and family were inspired to help out with Eleanor,” Drane said.

The 16 scouts from Troop 77918 raised a total of 935 boxes of cookies, and the eight girls from 77904 raised another 506 boxes. Beyond the donations, both Allard and Davidson said cookie sales as a whole were close to par from previous years. 

“Cookie season is about raising money for the troop,” Allard explained. “It helps us fundraise so the girls can do these amazing activities without always asking parents to put in extra money.”

The girls themselves were excited to help out with the community. 

“I loved making the banners (for the drop off) and giving back to the community,” said Maible Matranga of Troop 77904. “The OUR Center helps so many people with food and clothing, it's so good. The cookies brighten their day and make people happy.”

Cookies were delivered via a car parade at the OUR Center. The troops and the OUR Center made fun and festive banners to welcome clients as they received their boxes of cookies. 

Matranga collected 185 boxes of cookies for OUR Center, helping set a donation record for her troop. One of her fellow scouts, Claudia Koditek raised 125 boxes. The total of 506 boxes was a record for Troop 77904, with only eight girls in the troop this year.

"I'm really proud of the girls and their families this year, despite everything going on with the pandemic," Davidson said.

Ava James was the top seller for her troop, with 1,347 boxes. James was one of the few that did in-person sales, including booths at Walmarts and Ace Hardware.

“It meant a lot and it made me smile when they had the banners for us,” Koditek said.

“It was fun,” James said. “When I told them what the OUR Center was, they said they’d donate because it sounded helpful.”

“We’re grateful for the Girl Scouts for choosing us as their Hometown Heroes,” said Elaine Klotz, development director at OUR Center. “Not only is it an honor for us, but it allows our participants to have an extra treat over and above what they would normally be able to do for themselves. Even if they can’t meet the girls, it means so much to our people that the community cares.”

Update/Correction: This article has been updated to accurately reflect Troop 77904's giving history and record setting.