Thousands of boxes of Girl Guide cookies arrived in Calgary on Saturday as members prepare to begin their annual fundraising campaign. Girl Guides in the city received about 18,500 cases of classic sandwich cookies, totalling roughly 222,000 boxes that will soon be sold across the community. The shipment began arriving at 9:30 a.m. at an AMJ Campbell warehouse in northeast Calgary, where local units and travel groups picked up their supplies throughout the day. Organizers hoped all cases would be collected by early afternoon. “Cookies are our biggest fundraiser,” said Megan Belenky, the Calgary area’s deputy commissioner and acting public relations adviser with Girl Guides of Canada. “The money from these sales goes straight back to the girls. It helps buy things like their crests and badges, it supports different activities, it helps girls get out to camp and we even have a few units this year who are travelling outside of the country.” Each case contains 12 boxes of cookies, which are sold for $6 per box. The classic Girl Guide cookies include two rows featuring one vanilla wafer and one chocolate wafer. Cookie sales have been the official fundraiser for Girl Guides of Canada since 1927, supporting programs, activities and experiences for members. Belenky said some Calgary units are planning trips to international Girl Guide events, including a jamboree in England and visits to guiding centres in Switzerland. Local Girl Guides are expected to begin selling the cookies across Calgary now that units have collected their allotment from the warehouse.
