It was one powerful army joining hands to help another -- Girl Scouts on Long Island loaded a truck full of cookies bound for U.S. troops overseas on Tuesday.
They formed a human chain outside their headquarters in Garden City, N.Y., to load up the truck. Most of the treats are headed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The soldiers do so much for our country. You couldn't thank them enough," said Marissa, a 10-year-old scout.
The event was called "Operation Cookie."
During the last four months, the girls have sold 45,000 boxes of cookies that were then donated to the troops. That's more than a million cookies heading to men and women longing for a taste of home.
"We think it's a good thing to give a little bit of home back to them," said 14-year-old Caeley.
The cookies shipped overseas represent only a small portion of what Nassau County girl scouts sell. In a typical year, the scouts deliver 1.2 million boxes of cookies to hungry customers.
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DHL, the Girl Scouts' partner in Operation Cookie, will fly the thin mints and samoas out of John F. Kennedy Airport Wednesday. The cookies are expected to reach the troops by the weekend.
This is the fifth year Nassau County Girl Scouts have dispatched the product they know best and grateful troops have responded with heartfelt emails.
"Everyone loves our cookies," said Girl Scouts director Donna Rivera-Downey. "But it's extra special when you are alone and far away with no one to give you a hug. The cookies are like a hug."
It's a hug that means as much to the scouts as it does to the troops so far from home.
