With the Olympic-style parade of flags and a Cookie Games torch, plus the larger-than-life games and cookie anthem, Girl Scouts kicked off the 2019 Girl Scout Cookie season at a rally this afternoon at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. Nearly 500 Girl Scouts and their family members are now charged up and ready to “Go for Bold” and become part of the country’s largest financial investment in girls annually by selling Girl Scout cookies.
Girl Scout troops were each represented in a parade of flags, and welcomed by Patricia Mellor, CEO of Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, the council for New Hampshire and Vermont, and Tara Pacht, the new board chairman of the council. The girls were then off to different stations where they learned the five skills essential to becoming a Cookie Pro: setting goals, making decisions, managing money, interacting with people, and business ethics. They played giant games of memory to test their cookie know-how, worked in teams to learn safety tips for selling cookies, learned how to use Digital Cookie for online sales, and took part in other fun activities. Older girls got to create their own customized business cards, have a professional head shot taken, and test their cookie knowledge by playing a special version of Jeopardy.
Girls were full of giggles and smiles racing through the safety obstacle course, tied together at the ankles to promote the buddy concept. Having to do it tied “was the hard part!” said Nia Watts of Concord, a Junior Girl Scout.
A game of Jeopardy with a cookie theme had some older Girl Scouts both excited and at times stumped. “I didn’t know all the answers!” said Audrey Latino of Atkinson. She and her friend Julia Quaratiello, both Ambassador Girl Scouts in their senior year of high school in Atkinson said they are considering the possibilities for how to use their cookie earnings. As a troop, they hope to host a daddy-daughter dance and possibly travel to Florida or other locations.
The girls were encouraged to set specific goals for their cookie sales. One Brownie Girl Scout, Mabel St. Pierre of Concord, said she wants to sell 600 boxes, and Scarlett Casey of Nashua is reaching for bold with a goal of 1,000 boxes. Scarlett, a Junior Girl Scout, plans to use her earnings toward Girl Scout camp
Girl Scout Cookies are a powerful entrepreneurship incubator for the next generation of female leaders. At a time when girls’ needs and issues collect fewer than 8 cents of every dollar granted by a philanthropic foundations in the country, each and every Girl Scout Cookie purchase is key to supporting the change-makers of today and tomorrow.
Research shows that female-founded start-ups generate more revenue over time and per dollar than male-founded start-ups, but only 17 percent of start-ups are female-founded. Given that over half (53 percent) of female entrepreneurs and business owners are Girl Scout alums, supporting Girl Scouts as they make sales and learn essential business skills is imperative to ensuring our country has a strong workforce and economy.
How are those cookie earnings used? In Bow, Delaney King, Madeleine Ess, Madelyn McLeod, and Eva Rook earned their Silver Awards with their Bow Beautification Project. The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest honor a Cadette Girl Scout may earn. They built trash containers to be placed around Bow Pond, and arranged for the town to empty the containers. They also wrote an article for The Bow Times and shared the information on social media to let townspeople know about the project.
Julia Dickson of Concord and Pypper Mckay of Boscawen teamed up for Fun Fabulous Food. These Girl Scouts earned their Bronze Awards, the highest a Junior Girl Scout may earn, for putting together a cookbook of recipes using food pantry items.
Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls not only discover their inner leadership potential, but also use their earnings to power amazing experiences for themselves and their troop, including travel, outdoor adventure, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming. One hundred percent of the net proceeds from cookie sales stays in the local troop – so, when you purchase cookies from a registered Girl Scout, you are helping her to give back to your local community.
Eight flavors of Girl Scouts cookies are now for sale – Thin Mints, Girl Scout S’mores, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Savannah Smiles, and the gluten-free Toffee-tastics. Cookie booth sales start mid-February, and all sales run through March.
If you can’t find a Girl Scout, you can still buy Girl Scout Cookies through our Cookie Finder app at girlscoutsgwm.org/CookieFinder.
Only Girl Scouts offers the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. We are the organization creating the go-getters, innovators, risk-takers, and leaders of tomorrow.