Cash from cookies sold at Oscars goes to Inglewood Girl Scout troop

Chris Rock and Girl Scouts from an Inglewood troop. during the telecast of the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday. Money raised during the show will go to an Inglewood troop.

Feb. 29, 2016 12:30 PM PT

They reached into their tuxedo pockets and Chanel purses and rummaged for cash as they sat before the Oscars stage. Waving $20 bills, they flagged down a squad of intrepid Girl Scouts who took full advantage of their star-studded audience.

“I want you to reach into your millionaire pockets and I want you to buy some of my daughters’ girl scout cookies,” Oscars host Chris Rock told the celebrities. “Alright, Tina Fey, get that money, girl. Charlize Theron, yes. Matt Damon, yes. Leo, you made $30 million. Come on!”

Rock, who used part of Sunday’s show to raise money for the Girl Scouts, said the cash would go to his daughters’ New York troop. But it turns out that was just a line — his children weren’t there.

The 10 little girls who hurried up and down the aisles, grabbing cash and handing out boxes of Samoas and Thin Mints, were actually members of a troop based in Inglewood.

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According to Rock, the girls collected a whopping $65,243.

On Monday, Girl Scout officials confirmed that all of that cookie dough would go to the Inglewood troop and supporting Girl Scout programs in the Greater Los Angeles area.

“Chris Rock’s daughters are Girl Scouts in New York, and he was quite aware it was Girl Scout cookie season,” said Kenya Yarbrough, director of marketing at Girl Scouts’ Greater Los Angeles branch. “The money is going to the Inglewood troop. We’re working with the team on the final count.”

The Inglewood troop learned they would be rubbing elbows with celebrities earlier this month, when producers from the Oscars called and asked if they would be interested in participating.

The mixed-age Inglewood troop has about 30 members, Yarbrough said.

“They are very excited,” she said. “They really learned to appreciate showbiz and they were super excited to meet Chris and other celebrities.”

Selling cookies at the show was a “major coup,” Yarbrough said, but the girls genuinely appreciated the opportunity.

“They keep saying how grateful they are,” she said, adding that the girls plan on putting the money toward school supplies, a painting class and a trip to an amusement park.

Some girls, she said, went back to school Monday morning; others are still soaking up the spotlight, hitting talk shows to share their experience.

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