In honor of the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts selling cookies, the Girl Scouts Hornets’ Nest Council has launched “Cookies for a Cause” donation program that will provide free cookies to military members, hometown heroes and local nonprofits.

The program allows cookie buyers to designate a service organization to receive the cookies, such as Thin Mints, as a gift. Girl Scouts will accept such orders through personalized websites and apps, traditional door-to-door sales and booth sales until March 10.

Any buyer can designate their purchases to the Cookies for a Cause program.

Girl Scouts in the eight-county council were asked to nominate organizations for the program. The organization selected about 100 local organizations, including A Child’s Place, Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, Habitat for Humanity of Mecklenburg County, the Urban Ministry Center and USO of North Carolina.

Cookies for a Cause represents an expansion of the Cookies for the Troops program, which previously supplied cookies to members of the military and military charities. In 2016, the Hornets’ Nest Council’s cookie donation program delivered more than 40,000 packages of Girl Scout cookies to the local USO and military charities.

“For decades, Girl Scouts have been in our local communities not only selling cookies but building relationships with hometown heroes, nonprofits and others,” said Angela Woods, CEO of the Hornets’ Nest Council. “These girls are pillars of the community, and the Cookies for a Cause program is a testament to their passion for giving back.”

Girl Scouts Hornets’ Nest Council serves 17,000 girls and adults in eight North Carolina and South Carolina counties including Anson, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Rowan, Stanly, Union and York.

For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts, visit www.hngirlscouts.org.

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