Girl Scout cookies are a delicious and fun way to teach girls business and financial literacy skills. People all over the state will have their chance to do their part in supporting those skills when Girl Scout Cookie Go Day kicks off January 17.
An expected 40,000 girls throughout Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys’ jurisdiction will take orders starting January 17 for everyone’s favorite cookies: Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Lemon Chalet Cremes, and Sugar Free Chocolate Chip. Joining the ranks this year is the brand new cookie: Dulce de Leche, a Latin-inspired, sweet, and rich cookie with milk caramel chips, lightly spiced with cinnamon.
The Cookie Program Activity is the only girl-led real world business skills development program that grows with the girls. As the girls advance through different program grade levels in Girl Scouts, they are challenged to develop new skill sets and meet goals in the Cookie Program Activity.
The Cookie Program Activity continues for 10 weeks this year, concluding on March 29. Cookie Booths will open in communities in the River Valleys jurisdiction on February 27. An online Cookie Booth locator will be available at
www.girlscoutsrv.org starting in late February.
At $3.50 per box, Girl Scout cookies offer more than just a mid-winter pick-me-up. All proceeds from cookies, which have zero trans-fat per serving, stay local and benefit local Girl Scouts. Only 83 cents from each package sold goes to the baker.
In the 2008 Cookie Program Activity, River Valleys Girl Scouts earned more than $2.2 million in troop proceeds. In addition, girls earned special recognition items and cookie credits (which can be used for camp and council-sponsored activities) for their participation in the annual activity.
Money earned goes toward funding programs from outdoor living activities to financial management and from local and worldwide travel to funding local community service projects, building leadership skills and contribute to more than 1,300 programs in Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys that build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.
Cookie Care & Share is an opportunity for customers to purchase packages of cookies for troops or River Valleys to deliver to recipient organizations. “Care” organizations are those chosen by the Girl Scouts at the troop level. The organization, which must be a 501(c)3, is researched and the entire troop agrees to send “care” packages. Examples of such “care” organizations are area food shelves, shelters, or local in-home meal delivery services for seniors, among others.
“Share” organizations have a broader reach and coincide with the areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin served by River Valleys. River Valleys delivers cookies designated in the “share” option to organizations like Emergency Food Shelf Network, Second Harvest Heartland, Operation MN Nice, and The Armed Forces Service Center.
An example of the power of the Cookie Care & Share portion of the Cookie Activity Program is the delivery last year of more than 1,700 cases of cookies to organizations that support Minnesota and Wisconsin soldiers and their families as well as 3,500 cases of cookies delivered to food shelves that serve the 49 counties in River Valleys’ jurisdiction. To learn more about Cookie Care & Share or other aspects of the Cookie Program Activity, go online to www.girlscoutsrv.org.
submitted by the Girls Scouts of the Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys
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