Cookies for VETS

(04 APRIL 2024) – EAST ORANGE AND LYONS, NJ – “You guys sure are popular around here!” exclaimed Latisha Eaves from the VA’s Center for Development and Civic Engagement to the Girl Scouts and Sons of the American Legion (SAL) delivering cookies to the East Orange VA Hospital.

For the third year in a row, the SAL Detachment of New Jersey’s Children and Youth Commission has completed the highly successful “Cookies for Vets” project, which raises money to purchase Girl Scout Cookies which are in turn delivered to residents of the VA facilities in East Orange and Lyons, New Jersey. This year, 305 boxes of Thin Mints, Trefoils, and all of the favorite Girl Scout cookies were purchased and delivered to our hometown heroes using the VA, to lift their spirits and “make their day a little sweeter.”

Fundraising begins for this in the fall, and this year $1,830 was raised from private donors and American Legion Families from throughout the state. With donations from Posts, Units, and Squadrons in Essex County, all the way to American Legion Families in Ocean and Camden County, this project truly represents all of New Jersey.

“This project is something near and dear to my heart,” said Children and Youth Chairman Rusty Myers. “We have been doing this for a few years now, and I really enjoy having the kids participate in doing something nice for our vets.”

This state-level project is part of the Sons of the American Legion’s commitment to two of its core pillars – Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation, and Children and Youth. From fundraising and buying the cookies, to having the Scouts and Young Sons deliver them, to the vets getting a surprise tasty treat, this project embodies the spirit of why the SAL exists.

On a rainy day during their spring breaks, a few members of Girl Scout Troops 20122, 20462, a young Son from Belleville Post 105, and members of the Children and Youth Commission took a few hours to drive to the two VA hospitals, about 45 minutes away from each other in northern NJ. The deliveries are always made in April, which is American legion Children and Youth Month.

The Commission also hands a custom patch to every Scout that participates with the “Cookies for Vets” logo on it for them to put on their uniforms.

“We believe that through an organization such as the Girl Scouts we can achieve greatness and teach leadership, courage, and kindness” wrote East Orange VA Executive Medical Center Director Patricia O’Kane in a letter to the SAL. “It is through efforts of community partners like you that allow us to continue the quality care and services that we seek to provide for our veterans.”