Girl Scouts Sell 1,452 Boxes Of Cookies to Buy Bulletproof Vest

They sold cookies to motorcycle enthusiasts at a Harley Davidson dealership. They sold them at ShopRite.

They even sold them at the New Egypt Speedway.

And when they were through, the Girl Scouts of Troop 289 from the Joseph A. Citta School had sold enough cookies to reach their goal.

They weren’t looking to go on a field trip or buy the troop something, however; the troop wanted to buy a bulletproof vest for a Toms River police officer.

Tuesday evening at the Toms River Township Council meeting, the members of Troop 189 got to see their efforts pay off first-hand, as a new vest was presented to Officer Samantha Sutter of the Toms River Police Department.

How many boxes did it take to purchase the vest?

“One thousand four hundred fifty-two,” the girls said in unison.

Toms River Police Chief Mitch Little said police officers’ vest cost between $950 and $1000, so he was impressed by the girls’ efforts. The girls had wanted the new vest to go to a female officer, and as Sutter’s vest was due to be replaced, she was chosen to receive it, he said.

When the troop embarked on the fundraising effort, they initially thought it would cost roughly $500 to purchase a new vest. But when they found out the actual cost to buy one, they were undeterred, Danielle Curko, one of the troop’s leaders, said.

The girls -- Daisy and Brownie Scouts, who are ages 5 to 8 years old -- learned a valuable lesson in the effort to raise the money for the vest, she said.

“We’re teaching these girls that anything is possible if you set your mind to it,” Curko said.

(Toms River Police Officer Samantha Sutter high-fives members of Troop 189 as she tries on her new bulletproof vest at the Toms River Township Council meeting Tuesday night. Credit: Karen Wall)