It's Girl Scout cookie time — get your Thin Mints and new Lemon-Ups
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for cookie lovers.
The annual Girl Scout cookie sale kicks off Jan. 10. Cookies will be $5 a box, according to Stefanie Marshall, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania.
Tanya Schwab, who leads Girl Scout Troop 20216 in Irwin, says profits from cookie sales afford the members numerous opportunities.
They have visited Gettysburg and Hershey Park, Niagara Falls and Splash Lagoon water park in Erie, and camped at Assateague Island, where they saw the wild horses. This year they are planning a trip to Disney World.
A presale Cookie Rally helps get the girls fired up about the sale, Schwab says. Those Scouts overseeing the rally learn leadership skills and how to organize events.
But the mother of two Girl Scouts, and leader of 14, says the girls gain skills and confidence by interacting with customers as well from their sweet annual fundraiser.
“They set (financial) goals every year before the sale,” she says.
Younger Scouts learn how to handle money and are taught cookie booth etiquette.
The girls also practice marketing by making posters to help inform cookie booth customers how the troop plans to spend their profits, she says. One hundred percent of the proceeds stay local.
New cookie, new design
Along with the usual favorites — bestseller Thin Mints, the chocolate/caramel/coconut combination Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, S’Mores and the shortbread cookie Trefoils — a new cookie is joining the line-up.
Lemon-Ups will replace the Savannah Smiles Cookie. Lemon-Ups are described as crispy lemon cookies baked with messages inspired by Girl Scout entrepreneurs.
They include eight phrases that help bring to life the experience of Girl Scouting, including “I am a go-getter” and “I am an innovator.”
In addition, “refreshed” cookie packaging features Girl Scouts taking part in diverse experiences available to members, from camping and canoeing to exploring space science and designing robots, to taking action to improve their communities.
A century of cookies
Girl Scouts first launched the popular fundraiser more than 100 years ago, in 1917.
Selling cookies has evolved with time and technology. In addition to door-to-door and booth sales, Girl Scouts sell cookies through the online platform Digital Cookie, and members’ personalized pages. Now in its sixth year, the Digital Cookie platform continues to bring Girl Scout programming into the future by providing girls with invaluable business and STEM skills that prepare them for 21st-century leadership, Marshall adds.
Beyond a sweet snack, the cookies can be transformed into full-blown desserts. The Girl Scouts offer recipes featuring the cookies as a main ingredient for ice cream sandwiches and biscotti, cheesecake and parfaits.
To find a cookie sale or place an online order, visit girlscouts.org.
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