Selling Girl Scout cookies on their own street in Scotch Plains turned ugly for two little girls in February. But as one of them now says, it was a blessing in disguise.
Angelina Skolar, 9, and her sister Natalie, 12, now have boxes and boxes of Girl Scout cookies in their dining room, the result of a windfall of orders from a community that reached out after hearing that the girls were verbally abused while going door to door.
“A woman appeared in the street and started yelling at them,” said Sandy Crespo, the girls’ mother. “She started screaming, ‘No one wants your f—ing cookies, get out of here!’”
The disturbing incident prompted Ms. Crespo to lament on social media that the world has come to this—cursing out Girl Scouts selling cookies. Her Facebook post was seen by Dianne Howarth, Administrative Assistant to Fanwood Police Chief Richard Trigo.
“Dianne saw the post and contacted the woman,” said Lt. Francisco Marrerro, Fanwood Police. “She started passing around an order form here at headquarters and at our Borough Hall.”
In no time, there were orders for 250 boxes of cookies from Fanwood police officers and employees of the Borough court and administrative offices. And that was just the beginning. Word spread on Facebook and even more people from across Fanwood and Scotch Plains started buying cookies from the girls.
“I lost count,” said Ms. Crespo. “And the supplier ran out. It was wonderful to see how many people cared.”
“I couldn’t be prouder of Dianne and our police officers,” said Fanwood Chief Trigo. “It’s further proof that our officers are invested in our community.”
“There’s so much bad news about cops these days,” said Ms. Crespo. “It’s so great to see something positive come out of this for everyone.”
