What would 50 boxes of cookies mean to you?

What would 50 boxes of Girl Scout cookies mean to you? 

A lot of cookies to eat and a lot of calories to work off! Which doesn’t sound awful, but it’s not deep or meaningful either. But to one young girl, they became a pivotal moment of change that would set her life on a completely new and wonderful path. 

Meet Brook.

Brook walked into Allen’s office with her 70 year old grandma. Only 13 years old, she was quiet, shy and generally uncomfortable with strangers. Allen was just a person in an office who she was trying to sell Girl Scout cookies too. 

At first, the conversation went the way most of these kinds of interactions do—general greetings and salutations, some perusing of the cookie box options, followed by deliberations on how many of each kind. To anyone looking on (and to Allen), this was your typical young girl selling Girl Scout cookies. 

But there was so much more going on.

But then Brook left the office for a bathroom break, and her grandma shared what was really going on. Brook was now living with her grandma because her mom was unable to care for her. Before grandma stepped in, Brook was in a single parent home with a mom who had drug abuse problems. Her mom would be absent for days at a time, leaving Brook entirely on her own. After one particularly long absence that lasted 2 weeks, Brook’s grandma stepped in and moved Brook in with her. 

Motivation matters. 

After hearing this story, Allen decided to do more than just buy a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies. He talked with Brook to help her make a goal of how many boxes she wanted to sell this year, and he committed to buying half of those boxes. Her goal: 50 boxes. Allen’s commitment was so motivating, that she reached her goal and came back the next year to create a new one: 100 boxes. And then the year after that she sold 2300 boxes (Allen bought only 200 that year), becoming the top seller in Utah, allowing her to visit Italy as reward for her high sales. 

Small and simple acts of kindness. 

Allen meets with Brook just once a year to buy Girl Scout cookies and get an update on how life is going. 30 minutes and 25 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, 4 years ago, had a significant impact. Now, 4 years later, she’s vibrant, involved with sports, and highly self motivated at school and in Girl Scouts. She has a bright smile that lights up a room and she’s outgoing, not at all shy or reserved as she had been. Why? Because 30 minutes and 25 pledged boxes of Girl Scout cookies said: I see you. I hear you. And I think you’re capable of anything you set your mind to.