First Posted: 1/8/2015
REGION — It is on. Girl Scout cookie sales have begun for the year.
“The Girl Scout cookie program is much more than a fundraiser,” said Amanda Aldrich, communications and marketing manager at Girl Scouts of Western Ohio. “It’s developing lifelong skills.”
The cookie sales teach self confidence, how to set goals and make decisions, money management, business ethics and people skills, Aldrich said.
She said she has seen firsthand how Girl Scouts learn how to be assertive enough to speak to adults well, all by being given a little push to try to sell some cookies.
This year, cookies will sell for $4 per box. There are seven varieties: Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-si-dos, Tagalongs, Trefoils, Savannah Smiles and one new cookie, Rah-Rah Raisins. The new flavor is an oatmeal cookie with raisins and Greek yogurt-flavored chunks.
All cookies are American made with American products, Aldrich pointed out.
Nationally, the Girl Scouts rolled out a pilot program this year involving online cookie selling, but the local council declined to participate. Local Girl Scouts are using email, as they have for the past few years. Scouts who use the email program sell twice as many cookies as those who don’t, Aldrich said.
High-tech or low-tech, there are 42,000 girls in the council, which reaches into 32 counties. You should be able to find a young businesswoman and place an order. One tool is to search for the Girl Scout Cookie Finder app with your smart phone.
A few key dates to keep in mind:
• Orders are taken now through Feb. 22.
• Operation Cookie booths will be in the area Feb. 27 to March 1. Cookies will not be available for sale during this time. Girl Scouts will be soliciting for monetary donations, which will be used to send cookies to soldiers serving overseas.
• Cookie sales at booths will be March 6 to 29.
