By Jane Stegmeier
Staff Writer

An Allen County, Ky. girl is asking for help from everyone in Sumner County.

Kylee Pierce, who will be 7-years-old in April, is trying to raise enough money to buy 500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to send to the Detachment 1 L Troop of the 278th National Guard Regiment out of Gallatin.

Many of those soldiers are from the Sumner County area, but Kylee has a special reason for sending the cookies.

Her two uncles, Spec. Christopher Reese and Sgt. Matthew Pedersen, who are from Sumner County, are both part of this group serving in Iraq.

Since she is a Girl Scout, Kylee decided that sending each one of the 278th at least two boxes of cookies was a great idea, she said.

“Everyone loves Girl Scout cookies and we couldn’t afford to just send them to my uncles and I felt bad not sending everyone some, so I started this project,” Pierce said.

The little girl already has 120 boxes sold and the local family readiness group in Gallatin has agreed to mail them for her.

“I am really proud of her,” said her mother, Christie Grubb.

“I took all of my children to their send-off at Camp Shelby, Miss. and they are so proud of their uncles, even though they miss them,” she said.

Donations can be made toward the cookie drive by contacting the Hometown Heroes account at U.S. Bank.

Grubbs said they will send the first group of cookies after March 1 and then another group will be sent after that. There are currently 180 people serving in Iraq from this area.

Originally published Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Story Copyright to The News Examiner - Gallatin