COLUMBUS, OH –
In honor of Military Appreciation Month, the Defense Supply Center Columbus Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s annual Operation Cookie Drop distributes hundreds of cases of Girl Scout cookies donated by the Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland each May. This year, the Girl Scouts and DSCC MWR distributed 1300 cases of cookies to about 5,600 service members from 32 units (large and small) throughout Ohio.
The cookies were gathered by individual Girl Scouts and Girl Scout troops as part of their Operation Salute initiative to give back to military members across the state.
The units receiving cookies were from the DSCC Installation, the Columbus area, Dayton, Newark, Sharonville, Milan, Canton, Maineville and Middletown, Ohio and are from the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and Ohio National Guard.
The event was held at MWR’s Outdoor Rental Center in Building 27 May 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
DSCC MWR Family Services Program Manager Michiel DeVito said that the program now in its eighth year, is held each May because its Military Appreciation Month.
“It’s an opportunity to let our military from across the state know how very much, not only the Girl Scouts, not only MWR but our country appreciates their service and their dedication,” DeVito said.
Army Reserve Command Sgt. Maj. Denver Stone of the 633rd Quartermaster Battalion out of Sharonville, Ohio ‘coined’ the team from Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland with a 633rd Command Coin for the donation of the cookies to his troops as well as their dedication to bring joy to thousands of military families.
“The Girl Scouts are out here and they’ve donated all this for my soldiers and it’s just my way of saying thank you from the commander and myself of the 633rd. Maybe it’s something they can have that’s tangible to hold and look at and show that it meant something to us.”
The Girl Scouts and MWR staff provided service with a smile as they quickly and efficiently stuffed vans, cars, pick-up trucks and even a Humvee with cookies.
The units who picked up cookies at the event will further distribute them to individual service members and their families. Girl Scouts distributed all the main varieties of cookies everyone has come to love like Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, Samoas, Thin Mints, Lemon Ups and Tag-A-Longs.
“I can’t say enough about the support and the actual pleasure that I get from helping soldiers and working with the MWR people,” Stone said.
Watch a video from the event