DHL, Operation Cookie and a Commitment to Community

Girl Scouts of Nassau County Salutes Our Community Partners

GSNC has hundreds of community partners, including every public school district, most private and religious schools, local colleges and universities, other not-for-profit organizations, as well as government and corporate supporters and many small businesses. This is the second in a series of articles that will focus on some of our partner organizations.

 

DHL, Operation Cookie and a Commitment to Community

For more than a decade, DHL has partnered with the Girl Scouts of Nassau County to ship 600,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies—that adds up to literally ten million cookies!— to service men and women across the world through Operation Cookie.

A worldwide leader in shipping and logistics, DHL has made social responsibility a key piece of its strategy. By leveraging its core competency—international shipping—DHL makes an impact across the globe by connecting people and coordinating the smooth delivery of innumerable products across air, land and sea.

From species-survival programs (delicately shipping endangered species to new homes for their protection) to sending a taste of home (like cookies!) to troops stationed in the Middle East during Girl Scout Cookie Season. DHL has made itself a pillar of the community and an indispensable resource for organizations such as the Girl Scouts.

While this partnership, at the center of Operation Cookie, began 11 years ago, DHL began its own Operation Holiday Cheer one year prior. Sending Christmas trees, menorahs and holiday decorations to troops stationed overseas, Operation Holiday Cheer has been an annual community event for 12 years, most recently celebrated on December 7, 2015.

But it was Connie W., a GSNC volunteer from Manhasset, who lit the spark that brought the two organizations together for something special. Connie and her family had been shipping hundreds of boxes of cookies directly to troops out of her garage. When a friend made the connection between DHL’s commitment to community involvement and GSNC’s desire to send cookies around the world, all it took was one question to make it all happen: Can we do this?

The answer has been a resounding yes!

From Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Kuwait to Germany, South Korea and everywhere in between, the program has grown exponentially and organically. Individual Girl Scouts mentioned that their own family and friends are stationed outside the Middle East, and the program responded accordingly. With DHL’s logistical ability it was second nature to grow the program and bring a fresh box of Do-si-dos or Thin Mints to troops at military hospitals such as the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Kaiserslautern, Germany and troops stationed around the world.

And that social responsibility continues to get paid forward. The late Lt. Col. Schumacher had asked if he could share his Girl Scout cookies with the children in Iraqi villages his troops encountered every day. While the troops were thousands of miles away from home, sharing a taste of their childhood with a smiling face helped bring together two cultures in a truly special way. That genuine respect, love and appreciation is what Operation Cookie is all about.