VANCOUVER - The motto of Canada's Girl Guides is "Be Prepared," so it's understandable that they aren't letting COVID-19 derail their annual springtime cookie sale.
British Columbia council provincial commissioner Diamond Isinger says 800,000 boxes of Girl Guide cookies arrived at the B.C. branch at almost the same time as schools shut down and social distancing was imposed.
Isinger posted an online plea for help on Sunday and says the response since then has been "phenomenal."
She says franchise operators with Canadian Tire are selling cookies in their stores and London Drugs will do the same.
Isinger says the public has also enthusiastically adopted the idea of donating boxes to front-line health care workers, supporting the council's delivery of "a lot of cookies" to the Provincial Health Services Authority.
Proceeds from the cookie sales support 18,000 Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Rangers in B.C. and Isinger says the council relies on those funds to "be present in the lives of girls."
"It's not feasible right now for girls to be going door to door," she said in a telephone interview, adding the council has halted all face-to-face sales in order to keep members and the community safe.
That's why it's vital to work with supportive organizations to sell large volumes of cookies and the council is trying to figure out how to work safely with retail partners, Isinger said.
"We are hoping in the coming weeks and months we can sell all our inventory as safely as possible so we can keep doing all the amazing things we do."