Photo Provided Jody Miller, dressed as “Mrs. Claus” and “Frosty The Snowman” invited the public to a holiday cookie sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday outside the Ohio County Schools central office in Elm Grove. |Photo provided| Cookies and treats made by Ohio County Schools secretary Jody Miller will be available for sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Ohio County Schools parking lot. Proceeds will benefit the Heather Miller Memorial Scholarship Fund for nursing students at West Virginia University.

WHEELING — Some holiday spirit and a lot of flour, sugar and cookie ingredients are coming together in an annual effort to raise money for local nursing scholarships to the West Virginia University School of Nursing.

Jody Miller has a day job as federal programs secretary for Ohio County Schools, and for the last three months she has worked to bake 10,000 cookies to sell this holiday season to benefit a cause named in honor of her late daughter, the Heather Miller Memorial Scholarship Fund.

She will dress as Mrs. Claus, and be set up from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Ohio County Board of Education parking lot to sell the cookies.

Last year, she baked 8,000 cookies that were sold.

“This is the third year we’ve done this,” Miller said. “I used to bake them and give them away, but it got expensive. So we thought we would sell them and see if it took off.”

“I reimburse for supplies, but a portion of each sale goes toward the scholarship.”

Among the types of cookies available are chocolate chip, nut rolls, pecan tassies, iced green Christmas tree sugar cookies, and chocolate buckeyes. This year, Miller also has chocolate-dipped Oreos and pretzels for sale.

She has already received 55 pre-orders for the cookies, and the remainder will be available during the open bake sale.

Children are welcome to come have their photos taken with Mrs. Claus or an inflatable Frosty the Snowman that will be on site.

“All the elves will be there to help me,” Miller said.

She noted that all the baking has taken her three months, including all the prep work and obtaining the containers and supplies. She has three freezers at her home in which to store the cookies.

“I have to thank my daughter Sarah who does the running and the tedious stuff that takes the time,” Miller said. “I really love baking. I do. But right now Mrs. Claus is on burnout, and that’s OK.”

The scholarships are awarded first to Wheeling Park High School students who plan to attend the WVU School of Nursing. Application. Applications are also sent to John Marshall High School and The Linsly School. The scholarships range from $500 to $5,000, and are renewable each year.

The WVU School of Nursing also selects two undergraduate students and one graduate student for a Heather Miller scholarship each year. Miller said the stipulations, however, are that they award them to an Ohio County graduate, “or at least a West Virginian.”

Heather Miller died as the result of a car crash in 2008.

“Come and buy some baked goods Sunday. It’s for a great cause,” she said. “The baking is another way to channel my grief and keeps me occupied. It helps me get through the season.”