With cookie sale starting, Girl Scouts explain tradition’s importance

Lizzy DesRochers, a Junior in Madison’s Troop 124, hopes to sell 201 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – A tradition will return to town on Feb 6 when local Girl Scouts start their annual cookie sale.

This year, Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama are offering two new varieties: Rah-Rah Raisins and gluten-free Toffee-tastics. The all-time favorites will be back: Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos and Savannah Smiles.

All revenue stays with the Scouting program. Councils use cookie revenue to supply troop resources, train adult volunteers and conduct events.

Georgia Fleming is a six-year-old Daisy. “Selling Girl Scout cookies teaches me kindness,” Georgia said.

Lizzy DesRochers, a Junior in Madison’s Troop 124, is a fourth-grader at Madison Elementary School. Last year, she sold 163 boxes of cookies. “This year, my goal is 201 boxes,” Lizzy said.

For her sales strategy, Lizzy asks her family and friends to buy cookies, and her parents sell cookies to co-workers at their jobs. Her troop also conducted two booth sales last year at Wal-Mart.

This year, each box costs $3.50. “My troop has one booth scheduled in February in front of Sally Hansen Beauty Supply, but I hope we get to do more,” Lizzy said. “I enjoy selling the cookies with my Girl Scout sisters.”

Sale of Girl Scout cookies “helps young girls be active and involved in their community. The money we raise by selling cookies helps Girl Scout troops like mine go to camps and other fun activities,” Lizzy said.

At camps, Lizzy and her ‘Girl Scout sisters’ “learn a lot of different things and get to meet girls from different places. I have learned how to use a compass in the wilderness and how to filter water with natural resources.”

Lizzy also has really enjoyed learning about fingerprinting. “My troop has also gotten to visit a nursing home in town and sing songs with the elderly and visit with them. I can’t wait to see what adventures my troop will have next,” she said.

For more information, call 800-734-4541 or visit girlscoutsnca.org.