They’re here: Girl Scout cookies

Mindy Slinkard, a parent in Girl Scout Troop 1922, loaded her van with Tagalongs and Toffee-tastic gluten-free cookies on delivery day in Madison on Feb. 6. CONTRIBUTED

MADISON – On Feb. 6 for the North Alabama Cookie Drop-Off, Girl Scout cookies arrived aboard numerous 18-wheelers. The big trucks delivered more than 100,000 cases of cookies.

In Madison, local Girl Scouts, parents and troop leaders gathered at Lambert Relocation moving company to load their orders.

“Some Girl Scouts want to earn enough money to take a trip with their troop. Others use cookie profits to attend summer camp. Nearly all troops use a portion of their hard-earned money to give back to their local communities,” Karen Peterlin said. Peterlin serves as CEO of Girl Scout of North-Central Alabama.

Girl Scouts are selling the all-time favorite brands: Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos and Savannah Smiles. In addition, two new favorites are Rah-Rah Raisin and Toffee-tastic, which is gluten-free. Each box costs $4.

To promote sales, the Girls Scouts organization is offering the “Buy 5” campaign. “For every five packages a customer purchases, they receive one ‘Buy 5′ promotion card. At the end of the cookie sale, two customers’ cards will be drawn to win five cases of cookies,” Hannah Wallace said. Wallace works as Director of Communications and Marketing for Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest business venture run by girls in the world. “They learn the ‘5 Skills’: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics,” Wallace said. “They make a plan and decide where their cookie money will go.”

As always, enterprising Scouts will set up sales booths at retail stores around Madison. Individuals also can search online for booth sales by zip code at girlscoutcookies.org.

More than 9,000 girls and 3,000 adults in 35 counties participate in Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama. Juliette Gordon ‘Daisy’ Low founded Girls Scouts in Savannah, Ga. in 1912 with her belief of the power of every girl.

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