Girl Scouts celebrate Cookie Kickoff; cookie sales start Saturday

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Girl Scout Troop 11268 Hays practices for booth sales. Pictured are Allison Werth, Adalynn Wilkie, Alexis Bickle, Brooklynn Dinkel, Kayden Eaton, Anna Kuhn and Lynsi Kanak-McGrath.

Girls Scouts from the area converged Friday on Celebration Community Church for their annual Cookie Kickoff.

Cookies go on sale Saturday, Feb. 9 and the sale will run through March 17. Cost of cookies are $4 per box.

The event included girls from Service Unit 74, which includes Ellis, Trego, Ness, Russell and Gove counties. More than 90 girls pre-registered for the event.

The girls sampled Girl Scout cookies, decorated their own cookies, practiced their selling skills, made crafts, snapped pictures at photo booths and played games.

This year’s mascot for the cookie sale is Sparkles the Narwhal. For those of you who don’t know what a narwhal is, it is an Arctic whale with a large horn. The narwhal and its horn have been cited by many as the creature from which the unicorn legend sprung.

Junior Scouts Delilah Meyeres and Lisa Dible, 10 of Troop 10095, color narwhal horns at the Cookie Kickoff Friday.

In honor of the cookie mascot, girls at the kickoff colored and wore their own narwhal horns.

Junior Scouts Jordan Flavin and Arianna Ayarza, both 10 of Troop 10095, said they hope to use the money they raised from their cookie sales to go to camp this summer.

The girls earn Cookie Credits through cookie sales they can use for Scout activities.

Girl Scout Troop 11268 said they had already been to several camps this year, including the first part of three-part campout in Ellis, a Halloween camp and Cookie Camp in Scott City. The Juniors hope to raise enough money through cookie sales to go on a trip together this summer.

GSUSA

Cookie sale dates

The Cookie Sale runs Feb. 9 – March 17
Cookie Booth sales will be throughout the entire sale.

How to find cookies

Looking for a local Girl Scout to buy cookies from? Just enter your zip code at kansasgirlscouts.org or call our Cookie Hotline at 888-686-MINT (6468). You can also download the free, official Girl Scout Cookie Finder mobile app for iPhone, Android and other mobile devices. (Yep, there’s an app for that!)

S’mores cookie is returning in the 2019 cookie lineup

This year, Girl Scouts is celebrating a tasty new way to support young female entrepreneurs with a recently debuted Girl Scout Cookie added to the 2019 Cookie Lineup: Caramel Chocolate Chip, which joins classics like the Thin Mints, Caramel deLites and Shortbread varieties. Caramel Chocolate Chip features rich caramel, semisweet chocolate chips, and a hint of sea salt in a chewy gluten-free cookie. The new cookie is offered in select Girl Scout council markets only for as long as supplies last. We still have eight other cookie favorites to choose from: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbreads, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and Thanks-A-Lots.

A second century of Girl Scout cookies

In 2019, we celebrate the 102nd anniversary of the first-known instance of Girl Scouts selling cookies and learning the basic skills they needed to be leaders in business, managing their own finances and gaining self-sufficiency and confidence handling money.

So how did it all begin? It started in 1917 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, when the Mistletoe Girl Scout troop there did what Girl Scouts everywhere do: They had a great idea, got together, and took action to make it a reality. They decided to fund their projects by selling homemade cookies, and the idea spread!

The 5 skills

Daisy Scouts Georgia Olson and Harper Leiker, both 5 of Hays, decorate their narwhal horns Friday.

When girls participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, the largest girl-led business in the world, they get more than new adventures. They develop important life skills—goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics—that will set them up for success!

For 102 years, Girl Scouts have used cookie earnings to build leaders who make a positive impact on our world. Girl Scout Cookies not only help girls earn money for fun, educational activities and community service projects, they also help transform girls into G.I.R.L.s (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers and Leaders) as they learn essential life skills. There’s no doubt: American society is better because of the girls who have taken part in the Cookie Program.

Price of cookies

Each package of Girl Scout Cookies costs $4. Yes, there are Girl Scout Cookie lookalikes out there, but it’s important to keep in mind that when you buy a box of cookies from a Girl Scout in our council, all of the money stays in Kansas and supports local programs for local girls. Along with earning money for their troop, girls are also earning Cookie Credits they can spend on exciting Girl Scout programs and activities, camps, troop trips, travel, signing up for another year of Girl Scouts, and even on merchandise in our Girl Scout Shops.

How the cookie revenue benefits girls

Brownie Scout Giannna, 8 and Daisy Scout Aria, 6, Haselhorst of Hays are handed cookie samples by volunteer Becca Wilkie as their mother Dacia looks on.

After paying the baker, all of the money earned from cookie sales stays within Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland and in Kansas. Since the Cookie Sale is the girls’ primary fundraiser, the proceeds are helping girls and their troops pay for things like their first camp experience, a special trip or event, and even community service projects — girls invest their own Cookie Sale proceeds right back into the community. Cookie revenue also supports our council’s programs and services (girl programs, volunteer training, financial assistance for girls, facility operations, and program resources).

Digital cookie

Digital Cookie sales allow Girl Scouts to reach customers with their own personalized webpage on a secure system emphasizing girl safety. Girl Scouts and their families are instructed to share the link to their sale page with a close network of friends and family, rather than the general public, for safety reasons. This is a great option for family and friends who do not live nearby.

Digital Cookie does not replace the traditional Girl Scout Cookie Program – it enhances it. It is another way for Girl Scouts to sell cookies, alongside the traditional sales techniques like door-to-door sales and booth sales. Digital Cookie simply adds another learning component to the Girl Scout Cookie Program that will be relevant in today’s world. They can go to abcsmartcookies.com to access the page and send eCards to family and friends, with a secure link. Customers pay online with a credit card, and cookies are shipped directly to their home or place of business. Online customers can choose any quantity of cookies for direct shipment this year, plus the cost of shipping.

Cookie Share Program: Supporting members of the military and local charities

For customers who’ve already purchased enough cookies for themselves or cannot eat cookies, the Cookie Share Program is a great option. Cookie Sale customers can simply buy a package of cookies and opt to donate it or “share” it with servicemen and women, including those serving overseas; their families; and local charities like the Kansas Food Bank and Catholic Charities. The cost is the same as a package of cookies – just $4. Local businesses can also participate in the Cookie Share matching program, and match the number of Cookie Shares purchased by kind Kansans.

Since the Cookie Share Program started in 2010, Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland has distributed more than 158,772 packages of cookies, including 19,000 “Cookie Shares” in 2018. To share cookies with a local charity or send a sweet reminder of home to our servicemen and women, just ask your local Girl Scout about the Cookie Share Program or call (888) 686-MINT.