Helping Sacramento Girl Scouts
Lending a hand,
and a truck
Community collaboration is essential for realizing the full potential of our next generation. That’s why the Girl Scouts of East Sacramento are thrilled to partner with Rich Cazneaux for their cookie deliveries.
Girl Scouts have been helping American girls develop courage, confidence and character for more than a century. Multiple studies show that former Girl Scouts are more likely to become leaders as adults, thanks to a winning combination of self-possession, responsibility, motivation, and the ability to learn and grow from setbacks.
These traits, invaluable to long-term life success and wellbeing, are often most effectively learned, harnessed and developed in girl-led environments. That’s why the Girl Scouts is so important to the next generation of women leaders, many of whom go on to lead troops themselves, imparting wisdom and life-skills to the next generation.
Charlotte Lazio who appreciates the intergenerational benefits of Girl Scouts. Charlotte was a Girl Scout as a kid while her mom was troop leader. She began helping her daughter’s troop 6 years ago and came full circle two years ago by accepting the role of leader with her younger daughter’s troop.
Building Skills and Community
For Charlotte, one of the most rewarding aspects of her involvement with the Girl Scouts is the chance to give back to the community, most famously with the organization’s signature cookie sales. The way she sees it, giving back to the community is part of the process.
“For example, in Sacramento,” says Charlotte, “part of this year’s cookie money went towards care bags for teenagers who have aged out of the foster system.”
She also believes in empowering girls to make executive decisions about how to sell and what to do with proceeds, knowing these skills can help them in later life.
“They decide what to do with their money, they decide how to sell, they man their booths.”
Sacramento Strong
With all they do in Sacramento, the Girl Scouts have been supported by the community, even during tough times.
“During the pandemic, Girl Scouts across the country weren’t able to sell all their cookies, resulting in a surplus in some places. The Sacramento troop didn’t have that problem. Local girls worked hard during the pandemic and sold their cookies, and the community also came out to support them… It’s great that Sacramento has embraced them!”
Among the local businesses that worked with the troop during the pandemic (and before), Rich Cazneaux helped keep those cookies flowing out — and the proceeds flowing back in.
Among the local businesses that worked with the troop during the pandemic (and before), Rich Cazneaux helped keep those cookies flowing out — and the proceeds flowing back in.
Charlotte describes how the firm’s truck has been indispensable during the last five years:
“Usually, Girl Scout leaders pick up large loads and then distribute to individual scouts and to the troop group sales. Sacramento is unique because they have a girl who is a super seller (Janelle Wells sold over 4,000 this year), so we have to get them to the super seller and the rest of the troop. Doing this with individual cars is difficult. Renting a Uhaul would take away from community donations and the girls’ trips. It’s a big operation, and without Rich’s truck it would be much harder. We simply could not do it without him.”
As one of few all-girl, girl-led organizations, it’s vital that Girl Scouts work together with their local communities and businesses in this way — not only to ‘give back’ as per their core mission, but to help secure the organization’s future as a safe, educational environment for the next generation of young women
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NB – Quotes have been edited, re-ordered, and paraphrased for clarity and impact.
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