Monroe Browning Troop 388 wins 'Bling your Booth” cookie booth honors

MONROE — Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson has named Monroe Brownie Troop 388 as the winner of its annual “Bling Your Booth” cookie booth recognition competition, recognizing its cookie booth success out of all entries in the seven county Hudson Valley region. The girls were treated to a pizza party on Aug. 31 in their honor at the Girl Scout Heart of the Hudson’s regional Middletown office. The booth, which was at Fran’s Hallmark in Monroe last April, focused on the troop’s personal “Gift of Caring” project, where they sought to sell and have donated back to the troop 180 boxes of Girl Scout cookies which would then be sent to the troop’s adopted soldier stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. The adopted soldier (Sarah Foster, a former Girl Scout) was part of a 180-member unit, and the girls were hopeful to sell enough boxes so each soldier could have his/her own box of cookies. They met their goal though cookie sales and cash donations to the booth, and American Legion Post 488 covered the mailing costs of the 140 pounds of cookies to Afghanistan. The troop created an eco-friendly cookie booth, using recycled materials, which could then be dismantled and used for future booths. Their poster display included photos of their adopted solider with a pitch for “free shipping to Afghanistan courtesy of American Legion Post 488.”