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The moment that some residents wait all year for is finally here. The Eckville Girl Guides are selling their famous cookies.
“Our cookie fundraiser happens twice a year and it is our main fundraiser for the organization,” Girl Guide Leader Shauna Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. “It allows us provide our day to day program as well as giving the girls special opportunities like camps and events.”
The cookie sales allow the girl guides to perform their day to day operations, but also towards extra curricular events like district rallies and camps. The funds also provide training and support for the troop leaders..
“It supports everything we do.” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said.
Being able to sell the cookies is part of the fun for these young Eckville residents.
“They are very excited,” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. “They love going out and using their skills. We teach them how to sell the cookies and how to work with money and the customers. They are excited to practice those skills and it gives them some responsibility. They have some independence and allows them to take ownership of the program themselves.”
Eckville, traditionally, has been amazing at supporting this fundraiser.
“Our last campaign we didn’t have enough cookies to sell,” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. “We are hoping for that again and Eckville has always been really supportive of our program. We usually sell just as many cookies as Sylvan Lake and they have way more population. The community has been very good for us.”
The cookies this year are flavored with the traditional tastes that everyone has become accustomed to.
“This campaign is our vanilla and chocolate sandwich cookies,” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. They are the ones most people are familiar with. One thing that people may not know is that there is a tonne of recipes online using the cookies. They are pretty delicious.”
The funds allow the girls to experience things that would be impossible without the fundraiser.
“Our Eckville unit is doing an over night tent camp,” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. “All of the funding for it comes from our cookie sales. We are teaching them all about canoeing with no power and no running water. They will be cooking over the camp fire and using skills that a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity for. They are very excited about that. We will also do some geocaching with them.”
She added, “Our district camp is the week after, which is also supported by the bottle drive that we did. The girls will do canoeing, archery, climbing walls and a whole lot of other activities at Gull Lake Centre.”
Eckville residents do not have to purchase cookies to support the Eckville troops.
“If they don’t want cookies, they can also give a donation when the girls come to their doors,” Chilibeck Van Dirstein said. “We are also in need of leaders in Town. If you have a few volunteer hours to give, that is something that we are always looking for. Girls can’t have too many mentors.”
todd.vaughan@sylvanlakenews.com