Why Girl Scout Cookies

Are you a cookie rookie learning the ropes or a cookie veteran ready for another sweet cookie season? Whether it’s your first year or tenth—cookies are here!

Girl Scouts change the world one box of cookies at a time! There is a lot more packed into a box of cookies than sweet treats—girls get a taste of what it takes to be successful and channel their entrepreneurial skills. When girls sell Girl Scout Cookies, they're doing more than just helping customers stock up on delicious treats (and having lots of fun). Girls are doing it with a goal in mind. Whether that goal is going to on a summer trip, helping their community with a community project, or anything else they can dream up—girls know how many packages they need to sell to make it happen.

Having the opportunity to run their very own cookie business gives them skills essential for success today and in the future.

Top Four Reasons your troop should participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program!

1. Life Skills.

The Cookie Program helps girls—and you—develop leadership skills for life, including goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.

2. Girls earn exciting recognitions.

From more wearable recognitions in earlier levels to a new Virtual Disney experience—girls can show off their entrepreneurial accomplishments in new and exciting ways.

3. Financial benefits.

Your troop will earn money to help offset the cost of activities, outings, program supplies, and so much more! And in the process, girls gain skills to be financially independent.

4. Your girls will thank you.

Many successful business women say they got their start selling Girl Scout Cookies.

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National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend

You’re invited to join Girl Scouts across the country to participate in National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend on February 19-21! We’re celebrating all the fun, learning, and excitement Girl Scouts have experienced selling cookies for over 100 years! This year we will be celebrating both the old and the new—girls will have the opportunity to go back in time and learn the original cookie recipe from 1922 and fast forward into modern times with the new Hooray for Toast-Yay! Patch Challenge! Celebrate with us by participating in the following activities!

New Toast-Yay! Patch Challenge

We are challenging our members—girls and adults—to celebrate our new cookie, the Toast-Yay! during the 2021 Cookie Program. From February 9 through April 30, 2021, girls and adults can celebrate our new cookie and say Hooray for Toast-Yay! to earn a new custom patch. Celebrate by completing 5 activities, then complete the online Hooray for Toast-Yay Challenge form to receive your free patch.

Hooray for Toast Y a y!

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Take it Back to 1922

We’re taking it back to 1922 and learning the original Girl Scout Cookie recipe. The video will be debuted on February 16 on our Facebook page. Join us live or watch after!

Earn a Bonus Patch

During National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, February 20-21, girls will have the opportunity to share their Girl Scout Cookie stories with us via social media. The first 200 girls to share their Girl Scout Cookie story will receive a limited-edition National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend patch!

Cookie Volunteer Tips and Tricks

It’s the time of year Girl Scouts put on their vests, set their goals, and fund some of their favorite Girl Scout memories—and we’re here to help! Your GSMH staff, Troop Cookie Chairs, and Service Unit Cookie Chairs are ready to help your girls reach their goals and create lifelong memories in the process.

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Follow these tips to make sure your cookie season is successful from start to finish!

• Get the scoop. When we say scoop—we mean the Cookie Scoop! The Cookie Scoop is your guide to all things cookies. What’s new for the cookie program this year? What’s Smart

Cookies? We’ve got all the answers and more in our 2021 Cookie Scoop! • Engage girls in digital sales. From online sales to phone calls, girls have everything they need right at their fingertips. If you don’t feel comfortable going door-to-door right now—no worries! The digital world is her oyster when it comes to the Cookie Program. • Get creative! Allow your girls to dream up new ideas for selling cookies. Does she want to do a socially distant drive-thru cookie booth or think of a way to do contact-less selling? This year may look different—that just means she is able to create something new! • Get familiar with the cookies. Make sure your girls know their stuff! Knowing what the cookies taste like and even pair well with will help her better understand her customer’s needs. • Sit down and help set goals. If you haven't already, sit down with your whole troop and allow girls to start thinking about what they want to do with their cookie funds. Girl-led planning is a great way for your girls to not only get excited about cookies—but the year ahead! • Practice, practice, practice! Deadlines are coming up! Be sure to go into Smart Cookies and make sure you know everything you have to do. This way when the deadline hits, you will already be a Smart Cookie pro! • Mark your calendar! There’s some key dates before, during, and after the Cookie Program, like the ones on page 12-13 of The Cookie Scoop. Make sure you set up reminders for dates that you need to remember! • Participate in National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend! Make sure your girls are taking advantage of all the cookie fun—and benefits—that come from participating in the National

Girl Scout Cookie Weekend! Check out ways to celebrate National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend on our website. • Use your resources wisely. The Cookie Scoop isn’t your only resource—there is help around every corner! If you’re having any issues or have any questions, contact your Troop Cookie

Chair. Make sure to utilize the valuable resources that GSMH staff, Troop Cookie Chairs, and

Service Unit Chairs have to offer. • Join the community! Make sure to join the Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland Product

Program Facebook group for all up-to-date information. You can even ask your fellow Girl

Scout volunteers for more tips, tricks, and best practices!

Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out for a helping hand—you’re not alone in this adventure so reach out to parents, other Troop Leaders, and anyone else at Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland. Looking for more resources? Check out the Cookie Program section on our website.