By Kathy Chouteau
Fresh off a banner year for cookie sales, Richmond Girl Scout Troop #33895 has kept the momentum going by making a difference with some worthy local causes by donating partial proceeds.
“Our sales were through the roof and our girls were thrilled,” said Troop Leader and Richmond resident Deborah Larsen about their stellar cookie sales this year, noting that the Girls Scouts recently “donated 10 percent of their cookie earnings to Jelly’s animal shelter and each purchased some supplies for the animals at Jelly’s.” Located in San Pablo, Jelly’s Place is a nonprofit rescue and no-kill shelter that rescues, offers veterinary care and provides placement for abandoned, impounded, sick or injured dogs and cats.
The Girls Scouts’ good deeds didn’t stop there. Troop #33895—which consists of 14 Kindergarten through fourth grade girls from local elementary schools including Michelle Obama, Mira Vista, Washington and Ford—also spread some love with some of our nation’s most iconic and inspirational women: Rosie the Riveters.
According to Larsen, “a troop dad reached out to the Rosie the Riveter Trust, [which] suggested we do something special for Rosie the Riveter Day [March 21, 2021]. We found five original Rosies in the Bay Area, contacted them and we are planning on giving them some boxes of Girl Scout cookies along with a photo card our troop made of our girls dressed like Rosies.”
Under Larsen’s guidance, Troop #33895 has a history of giving back to the community. Last year, the troop’s scouts donated 10 percent of the proceeds from its cookie sales to Richmond’s Bay Area Rescue Mission, an organization that provides food, shelter and other crucial resources for people facing homelessness.
Past efforts by the scouts have also included service projects such as bagging food at the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2020 and assisting the nonprofit Urban Tilth with gardening at Unity Park.
During an earlier conversation, Larsen told the Standard she tries to instill in the girls “Richmond-focused city pride, being good citizens and giving back to the city” as well as developing a sense of community and friendship among the troop members. She also aims to teach “little girls to grow up to be strong women” with a “good sense of identity, independence and all those things we want for our kids.”
While cookie sales are done for the year, community members can find out more about the troop’s activities by visiting them on Facebook and Instagram.
