A Nanaimo man has bought 17,280 Girl Guide cookies.
But he’s not eating any of them.
Instead, the anonymous donor is using his money to educate five- and six-year-old Sparks about charities in their community, Cedar Girl Guide leader Sarah Bramley said Tuesday.
A few years ago, Bramley was visiting her friend who owns Drip Coffee in Departure Bay, trying to get him to buy her cookies by the case.
“His friend was with him and I said ‘You should buy a case.’ He asked how many cases I had left and he ended up buying all of them. And he said ‘And I don’t want a single box. Find a charity that’s in need of food and donate it that way.’”
The donor, now affectionately known as “The Cookie Guy,” asked Bramley to teach the girls about local charities, then have them vote on who should receive the vanilla and chocolate cookies.
“Pre-COVID, we went to the local food bank and they learned all about why people need the food bank and how you can donate,” said Bramley.
Recently, the Cookie Guy bought 72 cases of cookies or 864 boxes. With 20 cookies in each box, that’s 17,280 cookies, Bramley calculated.
“And that’s just this fall. We’re very, very spoiled. He’s been doing this since fall of 2019 and plans to continue,” she said. “Then on top of the $4,320 for cookies, he threw in an extra $1,000 to our district.”
The money will help pay for the extra costs of cleaning rental space due to the COVID-19 virus. Usually, the Sparks group pays $100 a year for rental space to host their meetings. Today, it costs about $40 a meeting just for the cleaning, said Bramley.
“Our anonymous Cookie Guy truly loves to donate because it is a way to give back to the community and educate our young leaders. He hopes this will inspire others, within their means, to give back to their community,” said Bramley.
“The gift of giving is very impactful and it makes a substantial difference with these young girls. It’s very empowering for them.”
ldickson@timescolonist.com
