The Girl Scout cookie tradition is
the largest girl-led entrepreneurial
program in the world.
T
Operation: Sweet Appreciation. An amazing 45,873 boxes of
cookies were donated through the program in 2017.
The next time you tear into a box of Thin Mints, you can
feel good that your purchase supports your local Girl Scouts,
giving another generation of girls the opportunity to learn life
skills and hopefully continue the tradition of selling cookies for
another hundred years.
PENNSYLVANIA
he Girl Scouts have nailed it. Sending future women
leaders out to sell sugary confections in the throes of late
winter—just long enough after the holiday cookies have
disappeared—and only once a year creating scarcity in the face
of demand.
“It is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the
world, and its structure teaches girls essential life skills like goal
setting, decision making, money management, people skills,
and business ethics,” says Stefanie Marshall, public relations and
marketing associate for Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania.
The Girl Scout cookie tradition began 101 years ago with a
troop in Oklahoma that baked cookies and sold them to help
fund troop activities. In 1936, the first commercial bakers were
licensed to make cookies for the organization. Through the
years, the program and cookie flavors have evolved and changed
with the times. Today, the girls can sell cookies online and even
offer a gluten free cookie.
Sales officially start in January and then the much-
anticipated deliveries of the coveted boxes begin in
March. The troops are directly rewarded for the hard
work of their female entrepreneurs.
The profit from each box sold goes back to the
troop. “One-hundred percent of cookie proceeds
stay local to power unique experiences for Girl
Scouts,” says Marshall.
The troops decide how to use the funds each year.
Many use it to attend Girl Scout camp. Locally, we
have Camp Hawthorne in nearby Girard where
girls from all over western Pennsylvania come for a
quintessential Girl Scout camp experience.
One local Erie County troop (Troop 36932), says
their group of fourth grade girls used their cookie
money for an overnight trip to visit the Niagara
Aquarium along with the Cave of the Winds and the
Maid of the Mist.
For an idea of the scope of the cookie program,
consider the Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania
statistics. Last year, 17,434 girls participated and
sold 2,760,355 boxes of cookies. The top selling
cookies were Thin Mints, Tagalongs and Samoas.
The Girl Scouts also give back and donate boxes
of cookies to service men and women through
MILLCREEK
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SPRING 2018
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