Girl Scouts sell cookies at drive-thru booth in Garden City

Local Girl Scouts in Nassau County on Saturday found a way to sell cookies and raise money during the COVID-19 pandemic — by having their customers drive to them.

Roughly 25 Girl Scout troops from Girl Scouts of Nassau County were on hand Saturday at the Girl Scouts of Nassau County's headquarters in Garden City to help sell boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils and other classic cookie flavors to customers at a drive-thru booth as part of its special weekend-long Girl Scout Cookie Pop-Up event.

While the Girl Scouts had finished their cookie drive last year shortly before the pandemic hit, this year the girls had to find creative ways to meet their cookie sales goals — which allow them to go to camp and take trips, said Rande Bynum, CEO of Girl Scouts of Nassau County. In total, the Girl Scouts are aiming to sell 60,000 boxes across Nassau County this weekend.

"It’s the first time we’ve done a pop-up event because we realized we still need to move some inventory, and our girls need a little bit of a boost," Bynum said.

Madison Spanodemos, a 12th grade ambassador Girl Scout from Malverne in her last year and a member of the board of directors for Girl Scouts of Nassau County, said the weekend event marked the first time that many of her fellow Girl Scouts have seen each other since the pandemic, and they were "very excited" to see a big crowd.

"We've been promoting this event on social media within our own troops and we're really excited to see the community turn out to support Girl Scouts," Spanodemos said.

Maura Collins of Stewart Manor and her mother Pat Collins had purchased seven boxes of cookies Saturday.

"I think it's a really great way to spread awareness about the Girl Scouts and it's definitely accessible to people during the pandemic, so it's great," Maura Collins said as she sat behind the wheel of her car.

Luann Middleton of Glen Cove who also bought seven boxes for herself and her family, liked the convenience of the drive-thru event.

"I was a Girl Scout myself, so this is a good thing for the girls, I really appreciate what they’re doing," Middleton said.