Lobbyists Launch ‘Thin Mint Challenge’ to Get Cookies to Local Food Banks
A group of Annapolis lobbyists has joined the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland in a campaign to feed the hungry during the COVID-19 crisis. Their idea is to include a box of Girl Scout cookies – preferably Thin Mints – in each parcel provided to a family visiting a local food bank in Maryland.
The campaign began when Annapolis attorney and lobbyist Bryson Popham purchased 75 boxes of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies to be donated to the Anne Arundel Food Bank. But he felt that number was “minuscule when compared to the need,” so Popham reached out to fellow Annapolis lawyer and lobbyist Steve Wise of Schwartz, Metz & Wise, P.A., and challenged him to match his contribution. Wise readily agreed.
Since then lobbyists Marta Harting of Venable LLP, Hayley and Gerard E. Evans of Evans & Associates and Drew Cobbs of the Maryland Petroleum Council, have all accepted the challenge, and the “Thin Mint Challenge” was officially born on June 1.
The lobbyists’ goal is to get a minimum of 1,000 boxes of cookies donated to Maryland food banks by July 4 — and as of a week ago they had about 875 commitments. The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland has given its full support to the campaign, and has launched a website for those who would like to contribute.
“For families visiting their local food bank, finding a box of Girl Scout cookies in their parcel will surely bring a smile to the faces of both parents and children,” Popham said.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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