Giving Back: How One Local Girl’s Gift to her Community Highlights the Holiday Spirit
Jocelyn Kriete, 14, is a natural at selling Girl Scout Cookies. In the past two years, with hard work and dedication, she earned enough “girl rewards” through the Cookie Program to purchase two American Girl Dolls to add to her collection at home. The life lessons she has learned throughout her participation with Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma prepared her to think ahead about how to best use the resources earned to benefit the community.
“I was thinking of how I could use these two dolls that I earned because I already had them,” Jocelyn said.
After some discussion with her mom (and troop leader) Candy Kriete, Jocelyn decided to donate the dolls to Sunbeam Family Services, one of Oklahoma’s oldest nonprofits benefiting more than 4,000 Central Oklahoma children and families.
“There are some girls who do not have enough money or cannot afford something like that,” Jocelyn said. “It made me emotional … I was going to give a doll to a girl who was going to have something she has been wanting for a while.”
Jocelyn comes by her giving spirit naturally. For the last nine years, Candy has inspired the girls who make up Noble Troop 410 to use a portion of their product rewards to help their communities.
“With our budget, we make sure that community service and giving back are included. We have donated or given back to Second Chance, Wildcare, The Veterans Center in Norman, Pioneer Intermediate School in Noble and several animal shelters,” said Kriete.
Carrie Davis, product program specialist, says there are countless stories of individual girls or troops using their reward money, either from fall product sales or spring cookie sales, to help others in need.
“We always hear of them doing something in the community. One troop decided that their fall product proceeds would go to adopt-a-grandparent at Christmas,” Davis said.
It’s not always easy for troops, especially newly formed ones, to be as generous as they would like.
“Sometimes it’s a stretch for troops. These funds help troops become viable and are used to pay for camps and other activities. But girls generally love to help a cause,” said Davis.
Helping others while helping themselves learn vital skills like goal setting, money management and business ethics through the Girl Scout Cookie Program is an added benefit of participation.
Kriete may never fully know the impact her donation made for children in central Oklahoma, but the memory of earning Girl Scouts rewards and choosing next steps will doubtlessly be part of her core memories from this important phase of life.
Cheers to Jocelyn Kriete and other Girl Scouts like her making a difference in small but impactful ways throughout their communities.
Find out more about the benefits of Girl Scouts and how to join at https://www.gswestok.org/.