Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night, nor even a viral pandemic shall stop Girl Scouts from selling cookies.
This year, Girl Scouts are selling in creative ways, including marketing Thin Mints, Samoas, Lemon-Ups, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Girl Scout S'mores and Toffee-tastics online, the better to remain socially distant, and arranging contact-free deliveries to keep themselves and their customers safe.
Jan. 8 was the kickoff of the 2021 cookie season for Girl Scouts -- Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which serves more than 6,600 girls and 2,600 volunteers and covers every Arkansas county except Crittenden, as well as three adjoining counties in Oklahoma and two in Texas.
Wanda King, leader of Little Rock-based Girl Scout Troop 6659, grew up in Cotton Plant, "where we didn't have a Girl Scout troop. But the minute I had daughters, I knew I wanted them to be involved."
One of those daughters, Blair, 16, is a member of the troop. She has traditionally been a top seller, chalking up more than a thousand boxes each year, with the assistance, her mother admits, of family, neighbors and friends. She likes the Samoas. So does her mom; after that, "it's Lemon-Ups."
Each Scout selling cookies online gets her own distinct URL -- digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/(name and a number) -- which the girls pass along to friends and family members and also transmit via email and text messages to past customers or parental connections (parents pass the links along to co-workers, for example). They also post them on Facebook, Instagram and other social media locales. Cookie customers can then arrange how they would like their Samoas et al. delivered. For no-contact deliveries, Scouts will call customers and drop the cookies off in front of their door, the same way Amazon, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service do.
Cookie booths, virtual and in-person, started sprouting up Friday, many in the usual locations -- outside Walmart, Kroger, etc. -- to catch casual customers. Cookie sellers will be practicing social distancing and wearing masks and gloves.
There are no new cookie flavors this year. Lemon-Ups made their debut two years ago, replacing the also-lemon-flavored Savannah Smiles. Toffee-Tastics are gluten free, and great with coffee, King says. "Actually, all the cookies are great with coffee," she adds.
Samoas are Arkansas' top sellers, says Chris McCreight, communications director for Girl Scouts -- Diamonds. And, King declares, "You can't just eat one." Thin Mints are the top-seller nationwide.
King has been a Girl Scout volunteer for 16 years with the Pocahontas Service Unit, an umbrella operation that covers several area troops. She serves on scouting's Council Advisory Team and Gold Award Committee and was an adult delegate to this year's National Council Session.
Troop 6659 includes all six tiers of Girl Scouting: Daisies, grades K-1; Brownies, grades 2-3; Juniors, grades 4-5; Cadettes, grades 6-8; Seniors, grades 9-10; and Ambassadors, grades 11-12.
"Our troop has all levels," King explains, so girls can stay in the same framework "as they age up, from kindergarten to graduation. We don't want them to leave."
The organization advises parents not to let their daughters sell alone. Advice for the youngest sellers: "The cuter the smile, the more they sell."
Cookie season usually lasts until March, selling cookies until Spring Break, and Scouts are encouraged to hit up participants at other competing extra-curricular activities, including cheer and dance competitions, band and ballet. "Never pass up an opportunity," King advises. "If they don't get them from you, they might go to Walmart and get them."
McCreight stresses that cookie sales teach girls a great deal, including money management, people skills, budgeting, planning, business ethics and time management.
Meanwhile, Girl Scouts donate a lot of cookies, including to first responders, hospitals and shelters.
McCreight says each troop decides what to do with the money cookie sales raise. King says her troop's older girls use it to take a big trip every two years, including recent travel to Savannah, Ga., and the home, now a museum, of Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low, and to Walt Disney World, Chicago and Washington. Younger girls have taken two-day bus trips to Dallas, Memphis and Branson. The money also goes toward programming, patches and badges, masks with the troop ID and gift cards.
The troop now, midpandemic, meets twice a month (second and fourth Mondays) via Zoom.
Blair King, who attends Central High after attending Lisa Academy, says Girl Scouting has taught her life skills, including how to deal with real life problems. She has met lifelong friends, and at Girl Scout camps she has taken part in archery, kayaking, swimming and crafts and learned wilderness survival skills.
To earn her Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting requiring 80 hours of service, she made more than 100 masks and delivered them to Arkansas Children's Hospital, along with how-to videos and fliers on the importance of wearing masks. King noted that the pandemic notwithstanding, there's always a need for masks of all sizes, including for babies -- for cancer and immune-deficient patients, as well as children and families who show up without them.
Looking for a Scout or a cookie booth in your area? Email product@girlscoutsdiamonds.org; visit girlscoutcookies.org; text COOKIES to 59618; or use the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app, available for free on iOS or Android devices.
