Grab the Milk! Girl Scout Cookie Time is Here!

It’s About the Girls—Not the Cookies

It’s Girl Scout Cookie time!!! Every year, thousands of girls across the Apalachee Bend area gain valuable knowledge while providing the community with a special treat—Girl Scout cookies. This year will be no exception. Locally, girls are taking pre-orders for Girl Scout Cookies through January 20 that will be distributed between February 10 and 14 -- just in time for Valentine’s Day. The sale ends March 4.

girls with cookies 200 All varieties of Girl Scout cookies are now “zero trans fat per serving,” in compliance with FDA regulations. This change was made because, like most successful businesswomen, Girl Scouts listen to their customers. There also is a chocolate sugar free cookie, the” Little Brownie.”

Since 1917, the Girl Scout cookie activity has become a famous annual event that has helped girls develop important leadership skills they will use throughout their lives. Whether they are dreaming of becoming a doctor, teacher, businesswoman, president of the PTA, or superstar athlete, the Girl Scout Cookie Program gives them the self-esteem they need to reach for the stars. The Girl Scout Cookie Program, an integral part of Girl Scouting’s Business and Economic Literacy initiative for girls ages 6–17, provides finance, marketing, and public speaking skills, along with valuable experiences that build girls’ self-confidence and help them develop their own personal leadership style. Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls manage inventory, set goals, learn money management, and develop marketing skills. Essentially, the girls run their own business. The entire troop sets a goal and follows a plan leading toward that goal. Girl Scout troops use proceeds from the cookie activity to fund a service project or to plan for an exciting trip.

Many successful women have credited their business skills to the Girl Scout Cookie Program, making it the premier business and economic literacy program for girls in the United States. “The Girl Scout Cookie Program is a valuable part of the Girl Scout experience. The skills girls gain truly help them develop into future business leaders,” said Raslean M. Allen, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Apalachee Bend, Inc. “It is always exciting to see girls developing skills they might not realize they are developing while it is happening.”

Proceeds from your purchase are distributed according to a council plan to benefit all girls involved in Girl Scouting. They stay in your community to support Girl Scouts in your community with a portion of the proceeds going directly to the troop/group selling the cookies, and some to program activities, training for volunteers, camp and camp staff, service centers/offices and staff, Council publications, and financial assistance for girl program participation.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program helps girls in unique ways. For example, this activity is a chance to build self-esteem. A shy girl can get over her fear of approaching people by working at a booth with her fellow Girl Scouts or going door to door in her neighborhood with other girls from her troop. A girl who might feel she isn’t good with numbers can build her confidence by keeping track of sales and learning to make change. “Participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program has definitely made me more confident,” said Brenna Wonsey. “I know I am learning things that will help me when I go to get a job.”

If you have questions about Girl Scouting in your area, please contact membership marketing consultant Jelema Moore at 850-386-2131, or jmoore@gscab.org or visit our Web site at www.gscab.org. Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. The Girl Scout Council of the Apalachee Bend, Inc., a 501©(3) organization and United Way Agency, serves 3,300 girls and 1,300 adults in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla, and Washington counties.

This article originally published on January 12, 2007.

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