OKLAHOMA CITY and PITTSBURGH — Two convenience-store chains are helping Girl Scout troops, whose cookie-selling time was cut short this year by the coronavirus outbreak.
Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores is donating cookies to professional truck drivers and Giant Eagle’s GetGo is giving teachers Tagalongs, Samoas, Thin Mints and more to show its appreciation.
Love’s is giving free Girl Scout Cookies to professional truck drivers in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Girl Scout supporters purchased boxes of the cookies to give to drivers to thank them for delivering important goods during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the chain. Love’s and the Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails also bought boxes of cookies.
“Because of stay-at-home orders and social distancing, we couldn’t sell our cookies in the way we’ve all come to know and love,” said Rebecca Latham, CEO of Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails. “So we came up with a creative way to raise money for our girls and also recognize the important work that these heroes of the highway have delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Drivers can pick up one free box of cookies at six Love’s locations in New Mexico and one in Oklahoma, while supplies last. Each store started with 1,200 boxes.
“The creativity of the Girl Scouts has to be applauded for this great idea,” said Jenny Love Meyer, executive vice president and chief culture officer of Love’s. “They’ve figured out how to fundraise in a challenging environment while also helping the hardest-working men and women in America who have been vital in the fight against COVID-19.”
Family-owned Love’s, founded in 1964, caters to professional truck drivers and other motorists at more than 500 locations in 41 states. It is No. 16 on the Top 40 update to CSP’s 2019 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by number of retail outlets. CSP will release the complete 2020 list in June.
GetGo also found a way to support the Girl Scouts and its community.
The c-store chain bought $50,000 worth of Girl Scout Cookies to give to teachers in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The donation supports the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania and Girl Scouts of North East Ohio.
GetGo planned to distribute 10,000 boxes of cookies to teachers with the help of two nonprofits: Pittsburgh-based The Education Partnership and Cleveland-based Shoes and Clothes for Kids.
“With remote learning and home schooling now taking place in so many homes, parents in our communities recognize the amazing work our teachers do to prepare our children to succeed in the world,” GetGo spokesperson Dan Donovan said. “We are thrilled to be able to show our appreciation for our teachers by supporting our longstanding Girl Scout partners.”
Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle operates 175 corporate and 54 independently owned and operated supermarkets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. It has approximately 220 GetGo c-stores in several states. Giant Eagle’s Convenience Division was No. 29 on CSP’s Top 40 list.
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