Helping homeless vets––one cookie at a time

Girl Scout Bristol Sjostrom, age 14, has turned cookie season into something much better than even Thin Mints and Samoas. The Gardner resident is turning her hard work into hope for veterans and hometown heroes.
Friday, April 3 blew in with ominous news. Mother Nature threatened intense thunderstorms. The odds of golf ball-sized hail didn’t stop Sjostrom and her mother Marie Sjostrom, from hawking cookies at Petro gas station in Wilmington. She’s determined to reach her goal of selling 15,000 boxes of cookies. If it means risking life and limb, so be it.
Now in her ninth year selling Girl Scout cookies, Sjostrom has built a reputation for determination, generosity and –– according to her family –– a schedule that would put the majority of CEOs to shame. She currently has more than $30,000 raised toward her latest and most ambitious goal — building a mini home for a veteran in need.
“She’s been working with different towns to see who wants the mini home,” Marie Sjostrom said. “She may have found that with the Kankakee County Veterans Commission. They are going to try to assist her in building locally here, or even adding to their project.”
Neither rain, nor sleet,
nor dark of night
Sjostrom’s cookie-selling routine is nothing short of dedicated. She sells cookies every day after school — except Mondays, when Girl Scout meetings force her to catch her breath. However, there are no weekends off, as she works the equivalent of a full-time job for a good cause.
And, Mother Nature hasn’t been cooperative for quite some time.
“We have been getting storms nearly every weekend and that’s why we are stuck with so many cookies left to sell,” her mother said. “Today we have 2,187 boxes left to sell.”
Whatever the Midwest decides to throw at her,Sjostrom is determined to reach her goal. Happily, her mother has managed to keep her safe and sound.
Helping homeless
veterans
Sjostrom’s passion for helping veterans began several years ago when she helped sponsor service dogs through K-9s for Veterans. In her nine years as a Girl Scout, Sjostrom has helped sponsor two local veterans to receive service dogs — one from the Coal City area and another from Morris.
“That’s how she learned about the homeless veteran crisis,” her mother said. “She learned there’s not enough resources for our veterans by a long shot. Some veterans come home to nothing. Some have even said they felt like their country they just fought for just threw them away.”
That discovery sparked Sjostrom’s determination to do more, leading to her mini-home project. While funding has come a long way, materials and land are still needed. The good news is that support continues to grow. First responders, especially firefighters, have volunteered to assist in the mission. She has even recruited local businesses to chip in, offering services such as fencing.
Sweets for the sweet
In addition to helping veterans, Sjostrom has spent years recognizing local heroes through cookie donations, a tradition that has grown into one of her favorite parts of cookie season.
This spring, she continued that effort by delivering hundreds of donated cookies to emergency personnel.
Each season, Bristol asks her loyal customers if they would like to donate a box to local heroes. That one question has resulted in supplies of cookies for first responders. Over the past several years, she has sold more than 20,000 boxes annually, with about 10 percent going directly to those who risk their lives to protect their community.
According to her mother, Sjostrom has sold more than 140,000 boxes throughout her Girl Scout mission. Thousands of boxes have landed in the hands of firefighters, paramedics, 911 dispatchers, emergency management teams, search and rescue crews, conservation officers, emergency room workers and animal shelter volunteers.
And there’s more
And cookies are only the beginning.
Bristol and her troop have helped provide CPR training mannequins for the Mazon Ambulance service — equipment now shared with schools and local organizations for life-saving training. They have helped secure AED devices for local truck stops, created more than 600 cancer pillows for patients at Morris Hospital’s cancer center, and supported animal rescues with handmade beds and blankets.
“All our girls in our troop are hard workers, and they love giving back like Bristol,” her mother said. “Bristol is the oldest in our troop and the other girls have taken inspiration from her.”
Outside of Girl Scouts, Bristol continues finding ways to pitch in wherever she can. She has donated her hair to Wigs for Kids, helped feed the homeless, and has even raised funds to care for stray animals.
Small actions
and a big heart
Marie Sjostrom said Bristol’s big heart has been obvious since she was very young.
“She’s been trying to save the world since she was three,” she said. “When we went to Chicago and saw homeless people sitting in the bitter cold, she worried about them constantly until we went back with bags of supplies to help.”
That same determination continues today — along with a belief that even small actions will result in big change.
Whether she’s knocking on doors, standing at a cookie booth in unpredictable weather, or planning her next project, Bristol keeps moving forward — one box, one delivery, and one act of kindness at a time.
And if there are still cookies left to sell, don’t be surprised when you hear a unexpected knock on your door.