Girl Scouts

Orangetown Girl Scouts Are Not Just About Cookies

Contributed by Kristen Troy of Tappan

In 2016, Girl Scouts Madelyn Troy and Artie Garcia (Cuatro) decided they wanted to start a hot cocoa stand to raise money for veterans on their day off for Veterans’ Day. I mentioned the “Rockland Homes for Heroes” in Tappan and they loved the idea of donating to them and decided to name their stand “Hot Cocoa for Heroes.”

That year they raised over $250 dollars on their little stand in Artie’s driveway in Blauvelt.

The next year, 2017, they decided to host the stand again, this time in Tappan at Maddie’s house. Local people and businesses decided to donate supplies when they heard about it on local community Facebook pages. The kids on our Hickory Hill block joined them and made treats to sell. That year they raised over $500.

In 2018, Maddie and Cuatro decided they could help raise even more money if they convinced other families and kids in Orangetown to also set up a “Hot Cocoa for Heroes” stand and marketed it on the local community Facebook pages.

A family in Pearl River agreed to set up a stand and Maddie’s cousins Sera and Reilly Maier started their own stand in Nyack with their friends and fellow Girl Scouts (and their little cousin Gracie). That year Madelyn and Cuatro raised 400 dollars and the other two stands raised over 200 dollars each.

In 2019, Maddie and Cuatro again marketed their “Hot Cocoa for Heroes” stand on FB community pages and got three stands set up by local kids (theirs in Tappan with the help of Hickory Hill neighborhood kids, Reilly and Sera Maier and friends/cousins again in Nyack, and Maddie’s friends from her Girl Scout troop/ Cottage Lane Elementary school started their first stand in Piermont.) From 2016-2019 Maddie and Cuatro with their stand alone have raised over $1500 dollars and over $2500 with the other stands. In 2019 their stand raise about $450. The stand in Piermont raised over $150 and the stand in Nyack raised over $350.

2020 was their best year yet, though they were the only Hot Cocoa for Heroes Stand due to COVID. Maddie Troy and Artie Garcia ran the stand with their siblings (Brendan and Kieran Troy and Lily and Brayden Garcia) and raised $1015 with more donations still coming. This brings their total to over $2,500 and $3,500 with the 4 other stands in the last 5 years.

Reported by John Murphy, Co-Founder and President of Rockland Homes For Heroes, a Not-For-Profit Charity that operates permameant, affordable, supportive apartments for homes veterans on Western Highway in Tappan. www.rocklandhomesforheroes.org

Sent from my iPhone