Girl Guides cookie sales raise more than $900,000 despite COVID-19 distancing

RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) — It was a sweet ending for the annual Girl Guides cookie campaign, which raised $900,000 despite cancelling door-to-door says because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because of physical distancing measures, Girl Guides couldn’t sell cookies door-to-door — putting the organization’s largest fundraising campaign of the year in jeopardy.

Then London Drugs offered shelf space to sell the cookies at all of its 82 stores across western Canada and online.

More than 180,000 boxes of cookies were sold, with 100 per cent of the funds raised from the sale of the cookies going back to the Girl Guides for programming.

“We are grateful to London Drugs for providing us with a safe distribution network to sell our cookies, which has helped raise critical funds to support Guiding activities locally and across the country,” Diamond Isinger, with B.C. Girl Guides, says in a release.

“It’s a sweet ending to what had to be a non-traditional cookie sales campaign this year.”

Traditionally, Girl Guides sell their cookies door-to-door, providing the opportunity to get out into their community and develop valuable skills, from teamwork and problem solving to responsibility.

With physical distancing measures preventing door-to-door sales, this year was the first time Girl Guide cookies have been sold almost exclusively through retailers.

“It is a special honour to have been a part of this year’s unique version of the annual Girl Guide cookie fundraising campaign, as many families across Canada, including my own, have had a connection to the Girl Guides at some point in our lives,” says Clint Mahlman, London Drugs president and chief operating cfficer.

The first shipment received by London Drugs was for 1,000 cases containing 12,000 boxes of cookies in the Vancouver area.

London Drugs then expanded availability across western Canada to all locations and made cookies available online, selling 180,000 boxes, totaling $905,540 raised for the Girl Guides of Canada.

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