They’re back! Girls Scout cookies arrive in Madison

MADISON – Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama are canvassing their neighborhoods to begin the Girl Scout cookie season.

February 2 marked the opening weekend of the 2018 Girl Scout Cookie Program, called “Count and Go.” Girl Scouts are ringing doorbells, setting up ‘booths’ at retail stores and asking friends and family to buy the tasty cookie treats.

Sales of the delicious cookies allow Girl Scouts of all ages to earn money to fuel their adventures and community projects for 2018, media contact Hannah Wallace said. The cookie program not only teaches essential entrepreneurial skills but also powers memorable experiences for Scouts across the United States.

S’mores are the most popular flavor to launch in the 101-year history of cookie sales. The S’more is a crunchy, graham sandwich cookie with a chocolate and marshmallowy filling, embossed with designs honoring Girl Scouts’ Outdoor badges. Other classic favorites are Thin Mints and Samoas.

“All of the net revenue raised from the Girl Scout Cookie Program — 100 percent of it — stays within North Central Alabama,” Wallace said. Councils use cookie earnings to help in funding in-town activities, community project, field trips and personal enrichment opportunities.

“We’re thrilled to enter the second generation of the Girl Scout Cookie Program,” Karen Peterlin said. Peterlin serves as chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama.

“This program is about so much more than tasty cookies. It allows girls to learn five skills that are essential to leadership, to success and to life: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics,” Peterlin said.

For sales, Girls Scouts also use the Digital Cookie platform, an innovative and educational web-based addition that helps girls run and manage their cookie businesses online. This digital tool also “brings Girl Scout programming into the future by providing girls with invaluable business and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills that prepare them for 21st-century leadership,” Wallace said.

For information about sales around Madison, visit girlscoutcookies.org. To volunteer with or join Girl Scouts, call 800-734-4541 or visit girlscoutsnca.org.