WATERLOO -- Troops support each other.

Some troops wear a flak jacket, others a green sash filled with merit badges

The Girl Scouts and soldiers are about as opposite as can be. But on Thursday, the two were closer than ever.

Northeast Iowa Girl Scouts, at the request of Iowa's Bravest, convinced the public to buy an extra 4,000-plus boxes of their famous cookies to send to Iowa troops serving in Iraq. About 100 Scouts and other volunteers gathered at United Auto Workers Local 838 Waterloo on Thursday afternoon to ship them out.

Girl Scout Troop 599 of La Porte City -- all six members -- sat at a table at the Hy-Vee grocery store at Crossroads Center earlier this year hawking Thin Mints, Caramel DeLites and other tasty treats. Even Girl Scout cookies aren't an easy sell at times, but members said as soon as they mentioned to reluctant buyers they could purchase cookies for the troops, their jobs became a lot easier.

The troop donated 180 boxes, and joined the packaging detail to see the mission through to the end.

"I thought it was awesome," Hailee Acuff said of the "Troops to Troops -- A Taste of Home" project. "We're helping people overseas that are helping us."

The project was the brainchild of Julie Ehlers, co-organizer of Iowa's Bravest. Not long after the war in Iraq started five years ago, the organization made up of John Deere Waterloo workers started sending gift boxes of snacks, games, toiletries and local souvenirs such as John Deere caps to Iowa troops for Christmas as a show of appreciation and support.

As Girl Scout cookie time approached late last year, Ehlers contacted Scout troops throughout the region, who through their support behind the project.

The original goal was 500 boxes. Then the UAW ponied up 300 immediately, and the goal shifted to 1,000. Ehlers was giddy when that goal was smashed, but orders kept rolling in.

"The soldiers will love them. If you put the message out, this community will come through," Ehlers said. "It means there's still support."

It took the group about 45 minutes to fill 90 boxes full of a variety of cookies. Craig Goetsch, customer service and retail manager for the Waterloo Post Office, said the boxes should be in Baghdad by Tuesday.

Counting shipping and the cookies, the community donated about $17,000 to give soldiers an unexpected treat, Ehlers said. Iowa Army National Guard or Army Reserve soldiers and Marines based out of Dubuque, Rock Island, Urbandale and Ottumwa will benefit. Other Iowa enlisted men in active duty units will also receive the treats.

The gesture Thursday brought Barb Cook of Waverly to tears. Her son, Cameron, is a military policeman with the 186th Combat Military Police, serving in Iraq.

Barb and her husband, Tim, volunteered to be a small part of a project they know will bring a lot of happiness to their son, a former Eagle Scout. The family always bought a lot of Girl Scout cookies.

"I think the soldiers will be way excited when they get the cookies. I can see them ripping boxes apart and stuffing them in their mouths," Tim said, a Vietnam veteran. "The guys are real glad to get packages. It's real uplifting and this tells them people care what they're doing."

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.