January through April is a critical time for Girl Scout programs due to Girl Scout Cookie season. These cookies are brought by the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world but why is the program valuable?
The organization offers opportunities and growth for young girls in their day-to-day lives.
The official website for the Girl Scouts of America states that, “Learning how to interact with customers to create budgets and taking orders, the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches Girl Scouts invaluable skills they’ll need to succeed throughout their lives.” Girls Scouts provides numerous opportunities for personal growth that young girls can experience while working to develop new abilities and a sense of a world they are normally not shown. Kids who are not involved in the program miss out on digging deeper into their entrepreneurial mindset, which is enlightening at a young age. In addition, being in Girl Scouts gives you the opportunity to get involved in your community. The program has Girl Scouts give back to the community by volunteering at events like making lunches for the homeless, raising money for organizations, and helping out at animal shelters. This experience is not only good for the community, but it also teaches the value of giving back to the community. The program allows for Girl Scouts to gain leadership skills and the importance of finance through selling cookies. Girl Scouts has inspired so many young kids and has led them to achieve great things. According to Girl Scouts of Citrus Alumane, 64% percent of today’s women leaders in the United States were once Girl Scouts.
When you purchase Girl Scout cookies, your money is not just going anywhere it is helping fund Girl Scout activities and projects, which are fundamental to the community. This is vital to the Girl Scout experience because these activities and projects are what educate these young kids. The Cookie Program is the main source of income for the council that is in charge of programming the troops.
“Proceeds help reach Girl Scouts in underserved areas and maintain camps and properties. Girl Scouts pool their money as a troop and use their proceeds to fuel adventures throughout the year–like STEM, outdoor experiences, travel, and community projects,” states by GirlScout. Org.
The first troop ever put together was in Savannah, Georgia in 1912. Juliette Gordon Low began the group in hope of making the world a better place for girls and teaching them courage, confidence and character. The 18 girls who were in the group all shared the same motives, making the group be ambitious and believers. This was a very important time because it marked a new beginning for women. The encouragement the ideas brought helped girls break out of the norms they had to follow and have their own strengths and dreams. At the time the program was created, women weren’t allowed to vote, and were expected to follow strict social guidelines. By creating this program, Low and her troop paved the way for numerous young kids and inspired them to become leaders. Girl Scouts is one of the biggest youth organizations for girls/kids in the United States, and continues to grow in size every year.
Today there are up to 12 different cookie flavors up for purchase, the most popular being Thin Mints. During Girl Scout cookie season, when a Girl Scout sells a certain amount of cookies, they can win a prize depending on how many boxes of cookies they sell. The prizes range from notebooks, water bottles and patches to headphones, Fitbit watches and a projector.
Girl Scout cookies are now sold in many places. Online and at cookie booths which are located at most grocery stores, are the two main sources. Girl Scouts also continue to sell cookies door to door in their neighborhoods and to family and friends. The journey of these cookies changed the way the public views Girl Scouts. The cookies have become one of the most famous cookies and will normally sell 200 million boxes of cookies each year, and have 700,000 Girl Scouts participating. Girl Scouts is not only a fun experience, but it is also a program that teaches valuable life skills to young kids that will carry those skills all throughout their life.