This time of year abounds with girls of
all shapes and sizes selling Girl Scout Cookies. It is estimated that
approximately 200 million of these cookies are sold with Thin Mints being the
most popular. It is the Girl Scouts' main fundraiser
of the year and has a long tradition. As early as 1917, girls were
selling home made cookies. In 1934, the first commercial Girl Scout cookies were sold in
Philadelphia and that blossomed into the tradition that continues today.
I was a part of that tradition long, long ago. Girl Scouts were a big deal in my
family of four girls. My mother, bless her heart, was a Girl Scout
leader for 23 years and was cookie chairman many times. However, my
sisters and I were not top sellers. We lived in a neighborhood with
many older people on a fixed income and my mother wouldn't let us go
to those houses. In addition, I was often competing with my sisters
which further narrowed down the pool of potential buyers for each of us. However, we
did sell some cookies which was very important because a portion of
the profits went to help us pay for camp. The rest of the profits
went to troop and council activities.
I had one favorite customer every year,
Mrs. Thompson. She was an older person in the neighborhood, but had a
little more money than some, so we were allowed to go to her house to
sell. She always bought a couple of boxes. However, the best part was
when I delivered them. She invited me in, opened a box of cookies,
and offered me some. She said she didn't like sweets and I would do
her a favor by eating some cookies. I don't know if that was true,
but it sure made me happy.
Today, when I see a girl selling
cookies, it takes me back to an important part of my youth when I was
a Girl Scout. As a scout, I learned many things and had some
interesting and wonderful camping experiences that I will never
forget. I want to support that for girls today, therefore I am a
softie every time one of them asks me to buy a box. I say yes to all
of them. Luckily, I live in a small neighborhood and I've never had
to buy more that 5 boxes any one year. However, my sister has a
different approach. She gives a small donation to the troop of anyone
who asks her because she doesn't want the cookies. She trying to cut back.
As long as the cookie tradition
continues, I will be one of its supporters. I guess it doesn't hurt
that I have a big sweet tooth and like cookies. Someday, maybe I will
just make a donation like my sister and leave the cookies behind. In
the meantime, I'm off to have some Thin Mints.
Did you ever sell Girl Scout cookies?
Did you ever sell Girl Scout cookies?
I was a Brownie & sold Girl Scout cookies until 3rd grade when we moved. Sadly, the new school didn't have a GS troop to join. My daughter has been a GS for 9 years & is starting to plan her Gold Award Project which will take about 2 years to complete.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we always buy cookies! However, once the kids are moved out, etc, I'll probably do like your sister does. A cash donation has a much larger impact on the local troop & I don't need the cookies clinging to my waistline!
Good luck to your daughter and her Gold Award project. I know how much work it can take as my two boys are Eagle Scouts the equivalent of the Gold Award. Does she have a project picked out?
DeleteI was both a Girl Scout and Camp Fire Girl. I loved both of those organizations. With Girls Scouts, we mostly sold in front of grocery stores and to friends. I thought it was a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteNow, because of food allergies, I don't buy the cookies, for us. But instead, I buy the cookies and take them to the food bank, or with my niece who is a Girl Scout, in another state, I send her a check and ask her mom to take the cookies to a food pantry. I will always want to support them, and will find a way to do so.
That's a good idea about the food bank. I think you can also go online and order cookies to be sent to the troops.
DeleteSending them to the troops would also be a great idea. Supporting both the Girls Scouts and our troops.
DeleteHa! I have many memories of selling Girl Scout cookies, but most of them are not terribly positive. I totally sucked at the door to door sales thing - I distinctly remember the response of one lady "Honey, I've still got Girl Scout cookies in the deep freeze, and I DON'T need any more!" Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSo of course, I try to support the neighborhood girls each year, which means that I've already single-handedly scarfed three boxes: one Samoas, one Tagalongs and of course the obligatory box of Thin Mints. Oy!
I really like the idea of donating them to a food pantry... I wonder if I'll have the resolve to actually do so. I sorta fear that someone might have to pry them out of my cold dead hands in order to get them away from me!
I regularly take food to the food pantry, but I've not been generous enough yet to take Girl Scout Cookies. I think if I want to donate them, they need to be mailed to the troops before I get my hands on them.
DeleteAlso, I've never understood how people can have them left in the freezer or need recipes to use them up. (There are lots of these online.) I don't have very good will power when it comes to cookies especially the ones sold by Girl Scouts so the ones that come into our house never make it close to the freezer.
I share your amazement that people could possibly have a need to "use them up" I'm generally lucky if the boxes make it to the cupboard without being ripped open and "sampled." Because, you know, you have to be sure that they still taste as good as they're supposed to! :-)
DeleteWe don't have girl scouts in Australia, we just have scouts, which boys and girls can do together. I was never involved as a kid, but I would like my kids to be one day because I think you learn a lot from it.
ReplyDeleteSo I've never sold cookies but I have sold chocolates to raise money for different organisations I've been involved in. We get a box of 30 chocolate bars to sell, and I always find it hard not to eat them all myself! Usually I take the box to work and people help themselves and put the money in an envelope, so it's pretty easy :)
I find it interesting that you don't have separate Boy and Girl Scouts. When the kids get older here, they have the option of combined groups, but not when they are younger.
DeleteMy kids have sold chocolate bars before and it's really hard not to eat up the stock.
I was kind of bummed with the cookies this year. Smaller box (again!) and they didn't taste very good. I hope they stop shrinking the box and the amount of cookies soon, otherwise we will be paying $4.00 for a couple of cookies.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really pay attention to how many cookies were in the box. I never expect there to be many. That way I"m not disappointed. Also, I wonder if your area changed bakers this year and that's why the cookies didn't taste as good.
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