C is for Cookie—And Collaboration: Exchange Teams Deliver More Than 228,000 Boxes of Girl Scout Cookies Overseas

Exchange teams continued a more than 20-year-old tradition of bringing a taste of home to military communities overseas by delivering more than 228,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to distribution centers in Germany, Korea, Okinawa and Japan in January.

The cookies, which go on sale Feb. 2, are an example of the Exchange’s global footprint, as it’s the only retailer that can ship and deliver the product to Girl Scout troops overseas for their annual fundraising campaign.

“This partnership with the Girl Scouts allows us to boost morale for military families,” said Planning, Allocation and Replenishment Director Kimberly Worrell. “For our customers and military dependents in Girl Scouts overseas, this provides them with a taste of home.”

The process of pulling off the sweet delivery began in the fall with the Exchange’s bakery and inventory team.

“The cookie order was provided in October,” said Inventory Management Specialist III Connie Samaniego. “The Girl Scouts team sent a spreadsheet of their cookie orders for Europe, PAC and other locations including Kwajalein, Saipan and Pago Pago. There is a short turnaround time, so our team moved the purchase orders quickly.”

Once the orders were submitted, Logistics Transportation Tech Kelli Sims received the spreadsheet of the cookies to be grouped and shipped.

“We prepared containers to be shipped on steamship lines to deliver the order overseas,” Sims said. “The container was sent to the Girl Scouts distribution center in Kentucky for loading and was then sent to the port to be loaded onto ships for transport overseas.”

The delivery traveled 10 to 12 days on water and an additional five to 10 business days to the Exchange’s distribution centers. The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) also assisted the logistics team in getting cookies to several remote locations without Exchange stores, including the Madrid Embassy and Guantanamo Bay, where Girl Scouts troops are located.

“The daughters of military service members overseas are able to participate in the Girl Scouts fundraising program because of the Exchange’s support and delivery assistance from NEXCOM,” said Purchasing Manager Connie Bartee, who has worked on the project for several years. “It’s good for our families. When service members’ families overseas are happy and taken care of, it takes the extra weight off of them while completing their mission.”

Shipments arrived in Europe and PAC in January. As former Girl Scouts and lifelong Army brats, Jean Essmann, a logistics associate at the Germersheim Distribution Center, and Customer Service Operations Supervisor Alexandra Gottfried navigated the delivery with special care.

“We began preparing to receive the shipments in October,” Essmann said. “Once the containers arrived in January, we had them offloaded and we accounted for the pallets we expected to receive. We also coordinated a military air shipment for Girl Scouts at the Cairo Embassy.”

More than 40 locations overseas, including remote locations in Saipan, Pago Pago and Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands received cookies. Exchange associates cite serving the best customers in the world as motivation for the project’s success.

“This project actively demonstrates our motto: we go where you go,” Sims said. “We’re bringing military communities a taste of home and we make sure that the Girl Scouts have a seamless experience when selling cookies just like they would at home in the states.”

Cookies will be sold at Girl Scout booths through March at participating Exchange stores and other locations on installations without an Exchange. Associates overseas can place their orders at participating stores.

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