SWAP MEET BARGAIN HUNTERS DELIGHT IN ANTIQUES, COLLECTIBLES AND … THIN MINTS!
Melrose Trading Post Provides Venue for Girl Scouts’ Annual Cookie Drive
(Los Angeles, CA) January 28, 2004 … Eagerly anticipating their annual “Thin Mint Fix,” disappointed Los Angelenos recently learned that, this year, Southern California councils of Girls Scouts of the USA won’t be selling the famous chocolate treats – or any other tasty specialties – outside neighborhood supermarkets, because of the on-going strike.
In a “Call to Cookie Arms”, the Melrose Trading Post – a flea market
“for the sexy, hip and groovy crowd” (Los Angeles Times) held every Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the parking lot of Fairfax High School at Melrose and Fairfax – has challenged local businesses to fill that “venue void” by extending a hearty welcome to the 2004 Girl Scouts Cookie Drive for its entire four-week duration.
Beginning Sunday, March 7, and continuing for three Sundays through March 28, local troops will set up their wares at a collectibles market enjoyed by 2,000 to 3,000 attendees, who regularly come to browse an eclectic mix of treasure and trash offered by 200 vendors.
Proceeds from the annual Cookie Drive are a mainstay of funding for a wide variety of programs sponsored by the Girl Scouts, the pre-eminent organization dedicated since 1912 to helping girls and young woman build character and skills for success which serve them all their lives.
“The Melrose Trading Post is proud to be actively supporting what is truly an American institution,” says Whitney Weston, on behalf of the Fairfax Parents and Friends Foundation. “We all buy – and eat! – Girl Scout cookies every year, but that’s the easy part! The Scout troops depend on the monies raised from cookie sales, and that requires a safe and secure place to actually sell their goods. 2004 can be their best year ever if local businesses give them a unique opportunity to reach as many ‘cookie monsters’ as possible.”
“We appreciate that businesses, organizations and community groups want to partner with Girl Scouts so that our girls may develop their business and marketing skills through the Girl Scout Cookie Program,” said Joannie Ransom, Executive Director of the Angeles Scout Council.
Offering the Girl Scouts a place to conduct their thriving business is a natural extension of the Melrose Trading Post’s underlying purpose – to help young people help themselves.
The Melrose Trading Post was created in 1998 by Greenway Arts Alliance, a local theatre company and staunch supporter of its community, working in tandem with their neighbor, Fairfax High School, as an on-going fundraiser for the Fairfax student body.
Each week is sponsored by – and manned by volunteers from -- a school club or student organization which has petitioned the Melrose Trading Post Committee for the opportunity to earn money for activities and purchases not provided for in the tight school budget, such as uniforms, field trips, computers, musical instruments, gym equipment and scholarships.
In the past five years, the Melrose Trading Post has raised over $500,000 for FHS clubs and organizations hit hard by state budget cuts which slashed funding for “luxury” programming.
As Ms. Weston puts it, “The Girl Scouts are also not a ‘luxury’ – they’re a necessity.”
The Melrose Trading Post
Every Sunday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM - Rain or Shine
Located in the Parking Lot at Fairfax High School
7850 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036
At the corner of Fairfax
Admission: $2.00, $1.00 for students and seniors
For Vendor forms and additional information,
click here or call
323-655-7679.
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