Prompted by a comment Barry made to one of my weekend posts, I am going to make two separate posts about Girl Scout cookies. After that, I won’t talk about Girl Scout cookies until 2006. The first topic is:
Why do Girl Scouts sell cookies?
I don’t ask the scouts in my troop to buy uniforms or books. I use the troop account to buy just a few books that all of the girls share. I also use the troop account to pay each girl’s dues to National. The troop account pays for all the badges, patches and charms that the girls earn. The troop account pays for most of the girls’ outings and activities. Before the beginning of cookie sales the girls choose a goal for the cookie profits. This year the girls chose a day doing many of the family activities in Chattanooga. Several of the girls have never been to Chattanooga. Initially the girls wanted to also visit a climbing wall but after much discussion amongst themselves they decided they want to go to the circus instead. One girl in the troop has never been to the circus. Without cookie money we would not be able to do all of these things. Today our troop delivered 5 cases of cookies to the Ronald McDonald House. These were bought with donations at cookie booths. There are hundreds of other troops in East TN collecting cookie donations for various non-profit groups in our area. The cookie money helps pay for the maintenance and growth of the Girl Scout camp here in East TN. The money helps pay for a council office and personnel who work year-round to organize the Girl Scout troops in this area. Selling cookies teaches girls money management, organization, goal-setting, marketing and math skills. Girl Scout cookie selling is hard work but I (and many others) wouldn’t have a troop if we had to ask parents to write checks every time we want to do something as a troop. My troop has worked very hard and now they are going to have a lot of fun.