By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

If you haven’t yet been contacted by a Girl Scout, not to worry.

Girl Scout Cookie Booths opened Friday and will have their classic cookies for sale through Sunday, March 8. If you can’t get to a local booth, for the first time ever, according to Hays Girl Scout Product Sales Manager Lisa Cech, you can order online from your favorite Girl Scout.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is going beyond the booth and offering more ways to buy cookies and support girls’ learning. Digital Cookie is now available for girls to market their online cookie business by inviting customers to visit their personalized cookie websites through a link sent via email.

“This year they’ve added where you can actually purchase cookies online tied to a specific Girl Scout and they can be shipped directly to your home,” explained Cech.  “It’s definitely one of those features we look to be really utilized with family and friends who live out-of-state or elsewhere.

“They’re very excited about it. All our girls are online these days so it’s best to provide them with a safe environment to be in,” Cech added.

There’s an online Cookie Finder available at http://www.girlscoutcookies.org to find Cookie Booths at retail stores, restaurants, churches, sporting events, and other special events throughout the 80 western Kansas counties served by Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland.

Eight varieties of Girl Scout cookies are available in Hays:  Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbreads, Thanks-A-Lots and the new gluten-free Trios.

The local favorites are “Thin Mints and Shortbreads,” said Cech.