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Girl Scouts-Cactus Pine Council Build “Cookie Castle” at The Shops at Norterra

As with many things this year, selling homes and cookies is being done differently which is why Homie Arizona has partnered with the Girl Scouts-Cactus Pine Council. Through the philanthropic arm of the company called Homie Helps, a $15,000 donation was made to support cookie sales, foster creativity, engineering, and entrepreneurial skills among the Girl Scouts.

Like Homie, Girl Scouts encourages innovation and finding new ways of doing things. When Girl Scouts were forced to sell cookies differently as a result of safety precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic, they wanted to create something eye-catching and fun. The result – a “cookie castle.”

One local scout, Mija Kaprosy, and her father, are building a 13-foot by 13-foot by 9-foot tall castle mostly out of Girl Scout cookie boxes. This will be the focal point to the Cactus-Pine Council’s cookie selling space located at The Shops at Norterra, 2450 W. Happy Valley Road, beginning on February 7.

“At Homie, we applaud innovation and embrace making smart, creative changes which is why we wanted to support and encourage the Girl ScoutsCactus Pine Council’s cookie selling efforts this year,” says Joshua Miller, general manager at Homie Arizona. “When we learned they were forced to shift gears we wanted to support the fundraising efforts and life skills by aiding in the building of the cookie castle.”

The annual cookies sale is a major fundraiser for Girl Scouts in Arizona, supporting opportunities for girls to learn, grow, and enjoy new experiences. The Cactus Pine Council’s goal is to sell 2.1 million packages of cookies this year.

“The pandemic has forced us to consider new options for selling cookies this year,” says Tamara Woodbury, CEO of Arizona Cactus-Pine Council. “When Homie stepped in to help promote a new cookie booth location, they provided a unique way to showcase what Girl Scouting is all about – perseverance, creativity, entrepreneurial and teamwork skills. We are excited to debut the cookie castle and hope the community is as impressed and amazed by it as we are.”

The public can purchase cookies and view the cookie castle every Sunday this month beginning on February 7.

Phoenix Water Debuts New Activity Book with Stormwater Hopper

Phoenix Water’s mascot, Hopper, is a friendly desert toad that represents stormwater education. In Hopper’s newly released activity book, “Hopper’s Stormwater Adventure,” students go on a journey to discover what happens to rainwater that flows into the storm drain. One of Hopper’s most important messages is that stormwater runoff flows untreated into washes, rivers, canals and retention or detention basins and it’s the community’s duty to protect the water. The activity and coloring pages throughout the ten-page book teach students how to protect stormwater and prevent pollution in the storm drain. Hopper takes students through a maze to learn where stormwater goes on page three. On page six, students fill in the blank using a secret code teaching them how to protect stormwater. Students test their knowledge on pages seven and eight by selecting which Hopper is preventing stormwater pollution. By the end, students will know that only rain belongs in the storm drain. The activity book is available for download on Phoenix Water’s digital education page, Water Education from the Cloud. In addition to Hopper’s activity book, the water education page offers water conservation resources for all ages including activity books for Phoenix Water mascots Wayne Drop and Loo Poo, games, learning videos for kids and adults, and lesson plans for the educators to use at home. The webpage provides fun learning entertainment for the whole family.

Phoenix Water continues to add new content to the page throughout the year. To download Hopper’s new activity book, and check out Phoenix Water’s digital education page, visit phoenix. gov/watercloud. To learn more about stormwater in Phoenix, visit phoenix.gov/stormwater. And remember, only rain in the storm drain!