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Kansas Girl Scouts are not only learning to become leaders and entrepreneurs when they participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, they’re helping give back to others.
During Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland’s Cookie Sale, which started Saturday, Feb. 13 and ends Sunday, March 20, Girl Scouts are preparing to become leaders as they develop important skills – goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics – that set them up for success in life.
Priced at the same $4 per package, with all of the proceeds staying in Kansas to support Girl Scouting, the nine Girl Scout Cookie varieties are back for customers to choose from: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbreads, Cranberry Citrus Crisps, Thanks-A-Lots, and the gluten-free Trios (chocolate chips nestled in a gluten-free peanut butter oatmeal cookie). The popular Lemonades – savory slices of shortbread with a tangy lemon-flavored icing – are celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2016.
This year, Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland is also poised to hit the 100,000 Cookie Share mark, thanks to Girl Scouts and their customers sharing cookies through the council’s Cookie Share Program.
Cookie Sale customers can simply purchase a package of cookies and donate it to service men and women and their families, and local charities like the Kansas Food Bank. Since the Cookie Share Program started in 2010, Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland has distributed more than 94,500 packages of cookies through the program, including 16,150 “Cookie Shares” in 2015.
Selling Girl Scout Cookies is a tradition that dates back to 1917, nearly 100 years ago, when Girl Scouts began selling home-baked cookies to raise money for their troops and their communities.
Along with traditional door-to-door sales and cookie booth sales, Girl Scouts use Digital Cookie sales, an additional learning component in the Girl Scout Cookie Program that teaches girls skills and 21st-century technology relevant in today’s world. Girl Scouts can share with a close network of friends and family their personalized webpage on a secure system emphasizing girl safety – a great option for family members who do not live nearby. Digital Cookie customers can pick quantities of six or 12 packages of any one Girl Scout Cookie variety, or an eight-pack sampler with one of each variety, to be delivered to their homes, plus the cost of shipping.
“Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest girl-led business in the world, each girl creates and runs her cookie business to support her goals and ambitions – whether it’s attending a Girl Scout camp, completing a service project that impacts her community, or even traveling the world,” said Liz Workman, CEO of Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. “I hope that every cookie customer takes time to ask our girls about their goals. Also, be sure to ask them about Cookie Shares, which support both the Girl Scout and members of the military or local charities.”
Make plans today to invest in a girl. The Girl Scout Cookie Sale is underway across the 80 Kansas counties served by Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. Looking for a Girl Scout to buy cookies from? Enter your zip code at girlscoutcookies.org, call the Cookie Hotline at 888-686-MINT, or download the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app that’s free for iOS and Android phones or mobile devices. Go to kansasgirlscouts.org to learn more about Girl Scouting in Kansas.
About Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland
Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland serves more than 15,000 girls and adults in 80 Kansas counties through its operational headquarters in Wichita, Kan., and regional offices in Salina, Hays, Emporia and Garden City. Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls’ healthy development and is the pre-eminent leadership development organization for girls. Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.