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Girls Scouts hand out free holiday treats to military members at Norfolk International Airport

Posted at 9:49 PM, Dec 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-20 23:20:05-05

NORFOLK, Va. - Local Girl Scouts handed out sweet holiday treats to active military members at Norfolk International Airport Thursday afternoon.

Plenty of assorted nuts, candies and snacks were rolled in a red cart.

Girl Scouts at Norfolk International Airport handing out treats to military members

U.S. Army member Daughtery said a cute little blonde girl told him, "Here you go," and he replied back, "Thank you."

It's the local Girl Scout way of giving thanks to those who serve and the ones who are spending the holidays alone and need the reminder.

"Sometimes they don't have family close by and they may not be able to get gifts from their family if they don't make it home," said Cookie Captain Maureen Keller.

The snacks are called "Hometown Hero donations."

Each Girl Scout raised money to purchase various goodies from their fall catalog.

More than 1,700 items were bought for less than $10. Public Relations Manager Courtney Herrick told News 3 the community helped raised hundreds of dollars.

"It also shows how dedicated our Girl Scouts are to giving back to the community themselves," Herrick added.

Related: Chesapeake Police give drivers turkeys instead of traffic tickets to spread holiday cheer

A lot of military members were surprised they were getting sweet treats for free. Some even asked if they can make a donation; however, the Girl Scouts politely declined.

"I'm like, "Well we bought these for you. Like, we raised enough money to give them out to you,'" said Cookie Captain Rachel Morgan.

Daughtery mentioned, "It's always nice for someone to say thank you in various ways, and for the Girl Scouts to do that - it just makes me smile inside."

The Girl Scouts said whatever treats are left over will be kept at the USO Office at Norfolk International Airport

"They can access it and get the goodies all throughout until they run out," said Cookie Captain Lily Tomlinson.