 Many
successful business women today say they got their start selling Girl Scout
cookies. During a cookie sale, girls are members of a team working towards
a common goal, with each girl striving to do her best. They also practice
other useful skills, such as goal setting and planning, learning to take
orders in a business-like way, handling money, delivering goods in top
condition, and knowing the satisfaction of a job well done.
Every penny earned by cookie sales remains in the locality where the cookies were sold. All cookie income is used to benefit girls, some directly by remaining in the troop treasury and some indirectly by subsidizing the cost of Girl Scout programs in the local area. Cookie sales fund local Girl Scout troop field trips, service projects, and other activities. "Cookie money" helps councils recruit and train the volunteer leaders for each troop, provide financial assistance to make Girl Scouting available to girls of modest means, improve and maintain campsites, and keep camp fees for everyone to a minimum. As the label on the cookie box states, "The annual cookie sale gives the Girl Scouts an opportunity to earn money for program activities, for special events and projects, and for purchasing and maintaining equipment and facilities." Girl Scout councils set their own cookie prices based on program needs and their knowledge of local markets, so the price per box may vary from one place to another and from one year to the next. While Philadelphians in 1934 paid 23 cents per box of 44 cookies, or six boxes for $1.24, today's prices reflect both the current cost of cookies and the realities of providing Girl Scout activities in an ever-changing social environment. The Girl Scout cookie sale is a part of Girl Scout heritage and tradition. It is an important part of what makes Girl Scouting an institution in the United States. For more information call the Richmond County Girl Scout Office at 997-4040 |
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