By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale kicked off Saturday and continues through March 8.
The Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, which includes 80 western Kansas counties, will be selling eight cookie favorites — Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbreads and Thanks-A-Lots. Thin Mints and Shortbreads are the top sellers locally, according to Lisa Cech, product sales manager in the Hays regional office office.
The Heartland Scouts are also selling a new cookie, which Cech said is available as part of a test market pilot program.
“With all the health issues we all face nowadays and celiac disease becoming very prevalent in our society, we took the idea of a gluten-free cookie back to our bakers and they do their research. There’s a lot of factors to consider–making sure it’s a good product and ships well,” Cech explained.
“Heartland Kansas is part of a pilot project for the gluten-free with the baker we partner with — ABC Bakers. We have a limited amount of the gluten-free Trios, which is a peanut butter-chocolate chip oatmeal cookie.”
“I like them. Even my teenage son likes them,” Cech laughed. “He thinks they’re ‘the greatest,’ so they must be good!”
The Hays Girl Scout office hosted a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting Friday morning to celebrate the cookie sale kickoff.
Along with the chance to sample all nine cookies varieties, the Girl Scout staff made and served “Thin Mint” pancakes, “Lemonades” smoothies, and sweet rolls topped with “Caramel deLites.”
All the Girl Scout cookie varieties will sell for $4 dollars a box — a 50 cent increase. “This is the first increase we’ve had in more than 10 years,” noted Cech.
After paying the baker, all of the money earned from cookie sales stays within Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland and supports local programs for local girls.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business in the world.
Cookie customers are helping local Girl Scouts prepare to become leaders now and in the future, according to Cech. “The Scouts are developing lifelong, key skills including goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics,” she said.
There are 212 Girls Scouts selling cookies in Ellis and Russell counties.
To find a local Girl Scout to buy cookies from, call the Hays Girl Scout office at (785) 625-5671. Cookie sales booths will be set up in various locations beginning Feb. 13.