As Veterans Day approaches, a great idea from a first-grade Girl Scout troop eight years ago has become an annual event that brings joy — and sweets — to military service members far from home.
On Nov. 6, Wayland Girl Scouts and veterans will gather to bag hundreds of pounds of candy that will be sent overseas to continue the Treats for Troops tradition that started in 2018.
Over the course of a week, approximately 700 pounds of leftover Halloween candy were dropped off in bins at all three elementary schools, the middle school, and the Council on Aging/Community Center building. The final destination for the donations was the floor of the COA, where it was dumped out onto tablecloths in huge candy mounds. Then the bagging began.
The 2018 Girl Scouts who came up with the idea (who are now freshmen in high school) worked alongside this year’s Scouts from all of the town’s troops as well as troop leaders, parents, and Wayland veterans to bag, tag, and pack the candy before it was taken to the post office.
Troop leader Alex Gordon said the participants have the mechanics down to science. The event now runs so efficiently that the original four-hour time frame has been cut in half. The girls gather the candy, mix it up, bag it into Ziploc bags, and attach a homemade note for each service member.
“Thirty-plus individuals are there to bag, box, and form assembly lines. There are lots of different jobs. Some girls are creating cards for the troops. Other people are in charge of stapling the cards onto the baggies, and others bag the candy. I warn everyone that stops in to visit that I will put them to work,” Gordon said. She did just that when the head of the American Legion came to see the event in action, and he was happy to help.” Afterwards, the workers enjoy a pizza party.
The bags provide a welcome pick-me-up for those serving far from home and also serve as a reminder of how they’re appreciated back home.
Active military personnel sometimes stop in to visit during the evening to say how grateful they are and what this tradition means to them. It’s a great way for the girls to meet the people protecting them, especially for those who may not personally know anyone who is actively serving, Gordon said.
Fifth-grader Clara Gordon (Alex’s daughter) has been going to Scout meetings since she was a baby, attending with older siblings, and officially joined as a kindergartner. She especially loved sitting in a circle and separating the candies for the bags, which she said was like swimming with candy. She also remembered a time when the huge candy mountains were bigger than her little cousin.
“The mound of candy was taller than him — you couldn’t see him on the other side,” Clara said. “It was so big!”
One year, the Scout troops collected, bagged and shipped almost 1,000 pounds of candy because it was being sent to an aircraft carrier.
Many of the freshmen who participated in the original Treats for Troops were amazed and excited about how the event has grown.
“My favorite memory from this event is from last year’s bagging of candy, when we had collected so much candy we ran out of Ziploc bags. So my friend and I ran to Stop & Shop to buy more sandwich bags for the ginormous mass of candy,” said Whitney Malgari.
“It has been an absolute honor to do this each year with everyone to show our thanks and appreciation to those who are serving, and to have those who’ve served come by and help,” Gordon said.
