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Business & Tech

Girl Scouts Get Ready for Cookie Sales in 2011

Pre-orders are open until January 22.

Ask Sarah Schech, a senior Girl Scout from troop 4775 in Silver Spring, MD, about her favorite type of Girl Scout Cookie, and you’ll hear this response:

“The Tagalong, because I like peanut butter and chocolate and it’s the only cookie with both.”

Yes, it’s that time of the year: Girl Scouts across the Washington D.C. area are going door-to-door selling Thin Mints, Samoas, and six additional cookie varieties to raise funds for their troops and for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC).

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This year, troops will be selling eight types of cookies: Thin Mints; Do-si-dos; Samoas; Tagalongs; Lemon Chalet Crèmes; Dulce de Leche; Trefoils; and Thank You Berry Munch. Girl Scouts will collect initial cookie orders until January 22 and booth sales will begin at local shopping centers on February 18.

Over 42,000 girls from the Washington D.C. area participated in the Girl Scout Cookie Program last year, selling over 4.7 million boxes of cookies overall, or approximately 108.7 boxes per girl. The GSCNC campaign was the largest national effort, earning $2.8 million to support full camping services, service projects, training for volunteers, and financial assistance for girls and families.

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Julie Carlson, the manager of product sales for GSCNC, said that the troops in Washington D.C. hope to repeat last year’s success.

“Once you reach the level of our program, the increases [in cookie sales] are modest year to year,” she said. “One thing we know for sure [is that] the greater Washington metropolitan area…surely love Girl Scouting and are extremely generous in their support of the Girl Scout Cookie Program.”

For each  $4.00 box of cookies sold, $0.69 is retained by the troop and $2.04 directly supports Girl Scout programs in the Washington D.C. area. All proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie program remain within the Girl Scout councils.

Schech hopes to sell 4,000 boxes of cookies this year to fund an Outward Bound/Girl Scouts Underwater Explorers trip to Costa Rica, where she will learn how to scuba dive. She believes that the Girl Scout Cookie program is a unique opportunity to support programs for girls abroad and at home.

“In the D.C. area in particular, most girls that I know never go camping, they never go hiking,” Schech said. “And with the money they [earn] from cookies they can go to [Girl Scout Encampments] and…[learn] how to build fires and [do] other camping-like activities.”

The program also operates as a service project for Girl Scout troops; customers can purchase cookies that will be donated to a community organization, such as a homeless shelter or food pantry, through the “Gift of Caring” project.

“For various reasons, some customers do not want to buy cookies for themselves. With Gift of Caring, they have a chance to give to others while supporting Girl Scouting at the same time,” Carlson said.

With revenues reaching $700 million annually, the Girl Scout Cookie Program is considered one of the largest girl-led businesses in the country, helping young women develop lifelong financial and communication skills. “Personally, I have seen girls blossom and truly grow in courage, confidence, and character which is our mission. Plus, they have an incredible amount of fun,” Carlson said.

Added Schech, “There are certain types of cookies you can’t get at the store. There’s no chocolate and coconut cookie. All the money helps girls become more [well-rounded] and get life experience.”

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