It's cookie season for the Girl Scouts of America and young ladies everywhere are hitting the streets with all your favorite cookie flavors. Two local Girl Scout troops have high hopes for this year's cookie sales and they are working hard to meet their goals.
Cookies For Sale
All your favorite flavors are back, including Samosas, Trefoils, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Lemon Chalet Cremes, Thank You Berry Much, and Dulce de Leche. Each box costs $4 and the number of cookies per box varies according to flavor. Refer to the Girl Scout Cookie flier (see pdf) for more details and descriptions of the cookie varieties.
Grab as many of these cookie boxes as you can because they only come once a year and the sale ends on March 20th. Troops plan to set up cookie stands at a variety of Cerritos and Artesia locations such as , , , , and .
Our Local Scouts
Troops 4113 and 2153 are our local Girl Scout troops that account for 18 Cadette Girl Scouts and 29 Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Girl Scouts. Last year was a transition year for some members as they "bridged" from Junior Girl Scouts to Cadettes. This is a significant turning point for a Girl Scout, so some of last year's sales were used to fund a trip to San Francisco, where the girls joined thousands of other bridging members to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.
This year, the Cadettes hope to use their sales to fund a trip to La Jolla, where their plans include staying at a hotel, kayaking in the ocean, and snorkeling with leopard sharks. The money raised will also go toward the Wasewagon Summer Camp and Retreat in the Big Bear area.
Cookies Building Better Communities and a Brighter Tomorrow
The benefits of these cookie sales go far beyond fun trips for the Girl Scouts. Money raised during the cookie season is also used to fund various community projects that the Girl Scouts participate in year round. These projects include volunteering at local beach clean ups, food banks, and animal shelters.
Futhermore, cookie sales help the Girl Scouts develop a number of skills. Troop Co-Leader Liz Sue explained that, "they learn organizationally skills, money management, budgeting, planning for what to do with their profits. They also learn communication skills and salesmanship when working with their customers."
A New Way to Sell: Find Your Closest Cookie Stand
The Girl Scouts of America have made it easier than ever to find and buy cookies. Simply type in your zipcode and the online Cookie Locator lists the dates, times, and locations of all the Girl Scout cookie sales in your area.
The Gift of Caring is another new option offerred by the Girl Scout of America. This new program allows patrons to purchase cookies as a donation to a charitable organization. Partner organizations include Operation Gratitude, the Bob Hope Hollywood USO, the Los Angeles Food Bank, Blue Star Mothers, and Goodwill of Southern California.
The Girl Scouts have also teamed up with the Los Cerritos Center's newest eatery, The Lazy Dog Cafe. The restaurant is offering Thin Mint Shakes for the entire month of March for $4.95 with $1 from each sale donated to the Girl Scouts.
