Dad may have built the house, but McKenzie, aka “Kenzie,” is running the show.
A mere second grader, Kenzie Keefe knows what it takes to sell nearly 2,000 Girl Scout cookies.
Location, location, location.
In this case, that’s in a custom-made “cookie cabin” outside her Quakertown home at the corner of California and Cemetery roads. Peering from the window, her handmade Girl Scout green hat, embroidered with a Thin Mint, a Carmel Delight and a Shortbread cookie snug on her head, you’ll find the 8-year-old Quakertown Elementary School student ready to sell you boxes of the ever-popular sweets. Thanks to friend Becky Pallone for making the warm hat, said Kenzie.
She’ll also provide drive-up service so you don’t even have to leave your car, said Kenzie’s mom, Crystal Keefe. “She loves it.”
Robert Keefe, Kenzie’s dad, may be a Bucks County Correctional Officer by day, but he’s “a very handyman” around the house, too. He built the little wooden house for his daughter when she got too cold last year selling from a heavy duty cardboard cutout of a truck.
The “Original Cookie Cabin” is heated and quite cozy. “I really like it,” said Kenzie. “It’s warmer and I can watch my shows,” on her iPad, as she waits for a customer. When cookie-selling season ends, the shelter moves to the family backyard, where it’s a summer playhouse for Kenzie and her friends.
Big brother Carver is a big help, too, taking cases of cookies in and out of the cabin, Crystal said.
It was the pandemic that spawned the idea of selling from a home-based spot, as the traditional way of setting up shop outside of stores was no longer allowed. With a little ingenuity and creativity, the truck was born and then, the cabin.
Crystal said part of the reason Kenzie so enjoys selling cookies is because of all the fun things her Troop 2084 does with the money raised. “They do a lot of activities, trips and camping, it’s a great troop.”
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