February 1 marks the start of my favorite season: Girl Scout Cookie season! The 2022 cookie season marks my daughter’s seventh year as a Girl Scout and her seventh selling cookies. It is a ton of responsibility and work, but it is worth it. You can read my Confessions of a Cookie Mom from a few years ago here to get the inside scoop.
Today, I am going to share the top five reasons you should buy Girl Scout cookies.
5 Reasons to Buy Girl Scout Cookies
1. Support an actual “Girl Boss”
Each Girl Scout is truly a cookie boss, so each box you buy supports a female entrepreneur. Every girl really runs the show when it comes to her business, obviously with family and troop support. She set her own sales goals, decide how many boxes to order and how and when she wants to sell to the public. In addition, girls learn valuable business and public speaking skills as they work their business. Girls are encouraged to talk to customers and answer any questions potential customers may have to help sell their products.
My daughter is in charge of keeping track of her sales, including sorting deliveries, counting money, and arranging her “deposits” to her troop. After the cookie season has started, girls can have small pop-up booths at their homes or at local businesses. These are called Lemonade Stands and are a large undertaking for each girl to set up. No cash? No problem. Most adults helping girls sell have access to safe digital payment options. Girl Scouts is high-tech!
2. Girl Scout cookie sales support your community
Have you ever noticed some Girl Scouts at cookie booths have a donation collection set up? It is important to know that money doesn’t go to the girl or her troop. At the start of each cookie season, each Girl Scout troop chooses a cause to support. Typically it is an organization in their local community.
People can donate money or boxes of cookies to this cause. This is the perfect way to pay it forward by supporting Girl Scouts in their community outreach effort. Our troop has donated to local law enforcement and medical first responders in the past. When you come across a seller, ask her where their donations are going this year. They love to talk about how they can help their community.
3. The girls really benefit
For each box of cookies you buy, money goes to the individual girl and her troop. No, girls do not get a check at the end of the cookie season, they get Cookie Dough credits for boxes sold. Girls can use their cookie dough to pay for Girl Scout camp registration or Girl Scout merchandise.
My daughter loves Girl Scout camp, so she sets high goals each year so she can help us pay for her camp cost. Girls can also get physical awards and experiences based on the number of cookies sold. From stuffed animals to custom sneakers and even a trip to Savannah, Georgia, where Girls Scouts started, girls are awarded for their hard work.
Additionally, each Girl Scout troop gets credit for cookies sold. The troops can use those funds for a wide range of things from supplies for meetings and even events or trips for the girls. Our troop has been able to participate in some amazing activities at low or no cost to girls! A favorite from a few years ago was getting to spend the night at the Omaha Zoo. Cookie funds helped make that event affordable for the families in our troop. When you are buying cookies ask what they are working towards, the answers may surprise you,
4. Cookie purchases support ALL girl scouts
In addition to each girl and her troop benefiting from each box of cookies you buy, our local council, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa (GSGI) also gets support. The cookie money goes exceptionally far here as well. In fact, for the last few years, GSGI has paid for every Girl Scouts enrollment fee! As well as the fee for adult volunteers. This generosity by GSGI has made the ability to become a Girl Scout easier and more accessible than ever before.
In addition, cookie-generated funds go to support maintenance and updates to the four Girl Scout camps in the council. Most of the Girl Scouts from the metro attend camps and events at Camp Sacajawea, just outside of Boone. Another popular spot for summer camp is Camp Tanglefoot in Clear Lake. Each camp is different but they serve the same purpose: to give girls amazing outdoor learning opportunities where they can learn and grow together.
5. They are delicious!
I saved the best part about Girl Scout cookies for last, they are delicious! Here is the cookie lineup for this year.
Don’t worry, your old favorites are still there. From Caramel deLites® to Thin Mints® and Shortbread, you can’t go wrong with a classic. There was a new cookie that debuted last year that is back for year two, the french toast inspired Toast-Yay!™ New to the group, is the Adventurefuls™, a brownie-inspired treat. I got to try one early and I must admit they are very yummy, and a different cookie than the others.
One of the other great things about Girl Scout cookies is that they freeze very well. In fact, just last week I thawed out a box of Caramel deLites® and they tasted fresh. Some people actually like to eat their cookies frozen. Throw a sleeve of Thin Mints® in the freezer and give it a try!
Surely many of you have seen the various Girl Scout cookie knock-offs that are found on store shelves. I am sure those cookies are fine, and may very well taste close enough to the original. They most likely have a smaller price tag than the $5 you will pay for a box of Girl Scout cookies here in the Des Moines area. Hopefully, the above reasons will convince you to skip adding those to your cart and wait for the real deal to head your way. Your $5 goes so much farther when you buy a box of Girl Scout cookies.
