CYNTHIANA, Ky. (LEX 18) — A little girl in Cynthiana is looking for a way to pay it forward after a fallen officer’s act of kindness helped her.
9-year-old Girl Scout Jolene Amyx is looking to top last year's sales of 1,500 boxes.
"Her troop leader last year said, 'You hit 1,000, I'll put you in the paper,'" said her mother, Toni Amyx.
Toni said she hit that goal last year with a lot of help from a friend.
"Caleb. Caleb is my mom's best friend. He always buys some," Jolene said.
She was referring to Caleb Conley, the Scott County sheriff's deputy who was shot and killed last year.
"He bought his fair share of cookies to help her meet her goal and that meant the world to her," Toni said.
"I know it was over $100 worth. We quit counting at some point," she continued.
When Conley was killed, little Jolene thought about how much he had helped her.
"It was rough. She took it a little hard because, to her, it was just somebody that was doing good," Toni said.
"Super sad. I think nobody will help me hit my goal no more," Jolene said.
She knew the officers were sad about Conley too, so she figured she could help cheer them up.
"She asked me if she could donate cookies, the kinds that he bought to the Scott County Sheriff's Office, and I said absolutely. She took them up there and did that, but she wasn't done there," Toni said.
That's how "Cookies for Cops" was born.
"She would see officers here in town, locally, when she was sitting out and she was just giving them cookies, so that gets a little costly!" Toni said.
Now, she's taking donations to give as many cookies as she can to her local police officers.
"She's always more worried about others and anything she can do to help and please anybody else is what brightens her day," Toni said.
Anytime someone donates extra money, it goes toward more cookies. It's the kind of thing that makes her mom proud, the kind of thing she learned from her friend, Caleb.
"I think that definitely lives on and carries on with people like Jolene. They want to do big things. They want to make people's lives better," Toni said.
