By Khalida Sarwari
Everyone has their own way of eating Girl Scout cookies. Melanie Roberts’ favorite kind are the Thin Mints, and she eats them by taking a bite out of one and then dipping it into a glass of milk so that the cookie absorbs the milk but the chocolate stays cold and crunchy.
Girl Scout cookie season is around the corner, and just like other aficionados of the cookie around the country, Roberts can hardly wait. And like some, she stocks up–buying as many as a dozen boxes every year. But for Roberts, it’s not just about buying the cookies for their taste, but it’s also a way to give back to the organization that made her the person that she is today.
Roberts, 52, lives in Redwood City and works as a portfolio manager for Prometheus Real Estate Group in San Mateo, where she oversees around 2,300 apartment communities in the Bay Area. She is a product of Saratoga schools, however, having graduated from its elementary, middle and high schools and living in the city until her early 20s.
Roberts was a member of a Saratoga-based troop for 12 formative years of her life. It was during her time as a Girl Scout that she learned the important skills of leadership and developing relationships. She recalls fond memories of weekend camping trips near Half Moon Bay and trips to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Looking back, she said, the 12-year experience–from Brownie to Junior Leader–was “absolutely phenomenal.”
“It was an opportunity to learn so many different skills and be exposed to so many different aspects of life, whether it’s sewing, cooking, camping or sports,” she said. “It really gave me an opportunity to grow and develop those skills within myself while also playing well with others.”
Roberts joined the scouts at age 6 with the backing of her parents, Hugh and Connie, who also enrolled her younger brother in the Boy Scouts. He would later go on to become an Eagle Scout for his troop, which was also based in Saratoga. But Roberts had her own fair share of victories. Throughout her tenure, she filled up her sash with badges–48 in all–for achievements in writing, sports, cooking, sewing and citizenship.
“I will always try something; I’m very driven, I’m very competitive,” said Roberts. “My desire to succeed does probably go back to those early days because I wanted to accomplish any task that I was given.”
Community service is another aspect of her life that Roberts credits to her Girl Scout days. In her spare time, she volunteers for the Second Harvest Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity and the Peninsula Humane Society in San Mateo. She serves also on the Tri-County Apartment Association board of directors, which partners with the Housing Industry Foundation to provide emergency funds to those who are on the verge of being homeless.
“Back then, in the early ’70s and ’80s, it was really long before you had a focus on charities and giving back to the community,” Roberts said. “That was a real precursor to community service projects to the level they’re currently at.”
Roberts’ scouting days ended when she turned 18 and graduated from Saratoga High School, where her father, Dr. Hugh Roberts, was a teacher from the year the school opened in 1959 through 1979. Although decades have passed since, the experience remains with Roberts and has shaped her life.
“It takes commitment, it takes dedication,” she said, “but what you take from it is something that will stay for life.”
