CINCINNATI — The COVID-19 pandemic's far-reaching effect on the United States economy is a top-of-mind concern for small business owners across the country, including the smallest ones of all: Girl Scouts. It's hard to move cookies when the CDC advises against getting close enough to sell them in person.
Christopher "CT" Todd, who leads his daughter's Girl Scout troop and helps run the Sugar n' Spice diner, is feeling the pinch on both ends. The diner is operating with a skeleton crew; the cookies are piling up, uneaten, in scouts' garages and spare rooms.
"Several troops, really, across the nation are stuck with an excess inventory of cookies that they were going to sell in front of Walmart and Kroger," he said.
It's not enough for the girls to eat them themselves. Troops depend on cookie sales to fund activities for the coming year.
So Todd and business partner Adam Mayerson came up with a way to help local restaurants and scouts like Lucy at the same time — pair them up.
Their initiative is called Business Bosses Supporting Cookie Bosses. It encourages businesses to invest in $250 of Girl Scout cookies and find a creative use for them, whether it's incorporating them into a restaurant recipe, using them as thank-you gifts for customers or donating to a community partner such as a hospital.
At Sugar n' Spice, Mayerson and Todd are including a box of cookies in every carry-out order.
They're both scared about the future, Mayerson admitted. But they're doing their best to find creative solutions to each day's problems and stay optimistic.
"That's what we try to stay focused on, being as hopeful as possible," he said. "Every day seems to be bringing new information, different challenges, and we just hope that things get better for anybody and everybody."
Even if you live outside of Ohio, you can still help donate to Business Bosses Supporting Cookie Bosses. Click here, fill out the form, and make sure the option that reads "I would like to buy cookies and have the troop donate them on my behalf" is marked.
This story was originally published by Whitney Miller on
WCPO
in Cincinnati.