A VIP cookie customer

It was a normal Saturday of cookie selling for five Girl Scouts in front of the Acme on Ellis Street, until they heard a “celebrity” was on the way.

That celebrity was Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett. While Troop 30284 had already run out of Thin Mints just 30 minutes into its sale – the cookie is the Girl Scouts’ top seller – Tippett ended up with one of everything else. He didn’t say what his favorite cookie is, but the player’s visit was a happy surprise for the Scouts.

“Obviously whenever I see them set up, I’ll stop and say hi,” he said. “It’s for a great cause. They love it. I remember when I was in school going door to door setting up with stuff like this … Anytime you can get people, it’s always rewarding and it’s super special to put a smile on their faces.”

Each of the Scouts – Nora Kuczynski, Susanna Banks, Ainsley Neuman, Piper Wattai and Hannah Feney – had a different reaction to meeting Tippett, with one saying “it’s really cool,” and another claiming “he’s just a normal human.”

Heather Kuczynski, a troop parent, noted that “some of them (the girls) are natural-born sales people.”

Troop 30284 began selling in January and will continue through the end of March. The group has sold about 600 boxes of cookies.

Mary Jo Hutchinson, a volunteer service unit manager with the Girl Scouts of Southern New Jersey, noted that visits like Tippett’s are part of a larger program of VIPs who show up when troop members are selling cookies to boost awareness of the effort.

Cookie sales are the largest and most successful fundraiser for the Girl Scouts, with national sales at about 200 million boxes a year. Except for expenses, the funds stay with local Scout councils and their troops 

“It’s an opportunity where a VIP is all sorts, sometimes it’s a local mayor, sometimes it might be the principal of a school, and in this case, it was a hockey player with the Flyers, which is very exciting,” Hutchinson said. She also pointed out that such “special” visits can build awareness of sales.

“I think that the VIP program really helps to support the cookie sales and bring some attention and excitement …” Hutchinson added, “and to the girls’ efforts and to what they’re learning in running their cookie business.”