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First Grade Bulldogs are sending more than 80 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to military troops, thanks to spare change First Avenue Elementary School students collected this month.
Led by the first grades at First Avenue Elementary school, U.S. troops serving overseas will be receiving 84 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies thanks to the “spare change” donated by students, family and friends at the school.
First grade teacher, Isabel Austin said, “The students learned to sort and group cookies by types as well as sort and group coins by value and can now count by ones, fives, tens and 25’s.”
Along with spare change from home, students turned in change they found on the playground. If nobody claimed it, the money went into the cookie fund, according to Deb Mansager, teacher.
“The entire school came together to help us meet our goal of $200 dollars so we could send 50 boxes of cookies to our troops overseas. But we surpassed that target by 68% for an overwhelming $336.00,” she explained.
Students also reported finding change on the ground at gas stations, car washes, in their backyards, roofs and dog’s dishes.
Local Girl Scout and entrepreneur Tabitha Kellam helped explain, coordinate and organize the “Cookies for the Military” project at First Avenue. She is an individual Girl Scout affiliated with Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona.
At 11 years old, Tabitha already has seven years’ experience selling Girl Scout cookies.
“We want to express our appreciation for the sacrifice our military and their families are making and have made,” Mansager said.
Last November, area students, parents and neighbors donated approximately 160 pounds of personal care items to the Veterans Hospital in Tucson. They received many thanks from the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus and the Veterans Affairs Volunteer Service which estimated the donation worth more than $500.
“The students’ donations were so appreciated and so important to our Veterans,” said Deborah Brookshire, Chief of Volunteer Services at the Tucson Veterans’ Hospital in Tucson.
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