09 Jan 2012 Girl Scout cookie orders start Saturday

Girl Scouts in the 501 and throughout the state will be ringing in the new year by putting their entrepreneurial and leadership skills to work through the Girl Scout Cookie Program.

January 2012 marks the beginning of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout organization.

Girls will begin taking orders for these delectable, do-good, cookies on Saturday and continue through Monday, Jan. 30.

The cost of the cookies will remain $3.50 per box with proceeds supporting local troops and programs. The classics, such as Do-si-Dos, Dulce de Leche, Samoas, Tagalongs, Thank You Berry Munch, Thin Mints and Trefoils will be available again this year.

In honor of the 100th anniversary, Girl Scouts is introducing a new cookie called Savannah Smiles that will take the place of the Lemon Chalet Crèmes from previous years. The cookie will help commemorate the rich history of Girl Scouting by honoring the birthplace of the organization, Savannah, Ga., while also reflecting the world-famous “Brownie Smile.” 

As in previous years, Girl Scout cookies remain trans fat free.

The cookie program is an important part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Girls learn valuable financial literacy and leadership skills, such as goal-setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. 

For nearly 100 years, the Girl Scout Cookie Program has proven to be a successful tool in promoting leadership among girls, while encouraging creativity and fun. “We have many former Girl Scouts tell us that they owe many of their business skills to the Cookie Program,” said Denise Stewart, CEO of the Diamonds Council. “It does your heart good to hear that.”

As the organization embarks on its 100th anniversary, it is important to note that the cookie program has been around for most of its existence. In 1917, five years after Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts, members of an Oklahoma Troop began baking cookies in their kitchens to sell at their school cafeteria as a way to raise money for their activities. As early as the 1930s, Girl Scouts were selling commercially-baked cookies in that now-famous Trefoil shape.  “Although the cookies have changed since their beginning, the concept of the sale has not,” said Stewart. “It has always been about building leaders.”

For individuals who do not wish to purchase cookies but want to support Girl Scouts, there are the Gift of Caring and Cookies to Troops programs, which allow consumers to donate boxes of Girl Scout cookies to good causes. Gift of Caring benefits a cause that the specific troop has chosen, such as a children’s shelter. When consumers purchase cookies for Gift of Caring, the Girl Scout troop will deliver the boxes of cookies to the chosen location. Cookies to Troops is the council-wide Gift of Caring initiative, which is structured more as a virtual donation.  Through the Cookies to Troops initiative, consumers may purchase cookies and the Girl Scouts will coordinate the shipment of donated cookies to approved military bases overseas.

For more information on purchasing cookies, contact the local Girl Scout office at 800.632.6894, or contact local cookie sale manager Susan Eggert at 501.513.0420 or visit girlscoutsdiamonds.org.