Thanks to a local Tracy Girl Scout troop and the generosity of numerous community members, many Tracy soldiers will soon get their sweet fix.

Troop No. 2073 will ship about 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to units in Iraq that lost Tracy soldiers, all donated through the troop’s cookie sales.

The idea was birthed last year when troop mother Shannen Enos and her two young Scouts sent 20 boxes of cookies to a family friend who was fighting in Iraq at the time.

“These cookies are to say, ‘We’re thinking of you,’” Enos wrote to the soldier.

She shared the plan with her 10-girl troop, who sold cookies over the phone and door-to-door this year.

“Would you like some cookies” has been 6-year-old Halle Suttle’s greeting to her neighbors for the past three weeks.

After the initial pitch, her mother chimes in to explain and the buyer is invited to donate some of their purchased cookies to Tracy soldiers fighting in Iraq.

“I started to notice that most people didn’t even want to buy cookies, they just wanted to donate,” Enos said.

Several people bought 10 or more boxes of cookies and donated all of them to the soldiers.

“They (the soldiers) are lonely and away from home now,” said Ireland Enos, 6.

The girls also did chores to earn boxes of cookies for the soldiers. A clean room, an empty trashcan or a basket of clean, folded clothes equaled one box of cookies. The girls also plan to attach colorfully decorated letters to some of the boxes to tell the soldiers what they did to earn the boxes.

The project was a chance for Girl Scout parents to teach the 6-year-olds a lesson in compassion, Enos said. “Everyone’s divided on how they feel about the war, but everyone’s united in supporting these troops.”

Money raised from the Girl Scout cookies sold will go to an educational field for the Scout troop, and 10 percent will benefit Tracy Interfaith Ministries.

The troop’s cookie donations are one of many care packages that have been sent from the community to Tracy soldiers. Marilyn Chorley, founder of Tracy Military Moms, sends an average of 15 care packages a day to Tracy’s 295 active military men and women.

“The community has been awesome,” she said. “They know we love them.”

To contact reporter Danielle MacMurchy, call 830-4221 or e-mail danielle@tracypress.com.