REGION – Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains and Girl Scouts of the USA have kicked off the 2021 Girl Scout Cookie season nationally, during a challenging time when many Girl Scouts are selling in creative, socially distant, and contact-free ways to keep themselves and their customers safe. Even in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, girls are adapting their sales methods to share the joy of Girl Scout Cookies through the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program – including taking contact-free pickup and delivery orders through a new national collaboration with GrubHub in select areas starting in February.
GSUSA is also making online cookie ordering available nationwide Feb. 1 so consumers who don’t know a Girl Scout can still purchase cookies from a local troop for direct shipment to their homes or donation to local organizations. Girl Scouts will host some in-person cookie booths across New Hampshire and Vermont Feb. 12, running through March 22. In-person sales will be conducted with all pandemic safety restrictions possible.
Innovative girl-led sales methods
The Girl Scout Cookie Program has long taught girls how to run a business via in-person booths, door-to-door activity, and the Digital Cookie platform online, which GSUSA launched in 2014. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in the middle of the 2020 season and girls were faced with the same challenges as other small businesses, girls in New Hampshire and Vermont quickly pivoted their sales methods, running virtual cookie booths on social media. More than 81,000 packages of Girl Scout Cookies were donated to the military and hometown heroes last year. Girls as young as 5 years old are continuing to embrace their entrepreneurial spirits, stay connected to their communities, and have fun by participating in the cookie program. And, the proceeds from each and every purchase stay local with the troop and its council to power Girl Scouts’ essential leadership programming.
“We are looking forward to this year’s Girl Scout Cookie season,” said Patricia K. Mellor, CEO of Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. “We are keeping our Girl Scouts safe while they learn essential life skills in our cookie program, like people skills, business ethics, goal-setting, money management, and more. Our girls look forward to the cookie program each year, as it provides them a fun and interactive way to fund the things they do.”
This year, Girl Scouts is also providing new materials as part of the cookie badge program to support girls as they run their cookie business online and via social media, helping them be best equipped to sell during these times.
Order online through the Girl Scout Cookie Finder
GSUSA is making it possible for all consumers nationwide who don’t already know a Girl Scout to purchase Girl Scout Cookies online for shipment to their door. Beginning Feb. 1, customers can enter their ZIP code into the Girl Scout Cookie Finder to find a local troop to purchase from through the Digital Cookie platform for direct shipment or donation to local organizations. This additional contact-free method supports local girls while keeping their safety and skill-building top of mind.
And though social distancing measures may keep families and friends apart, cookie customers can share joy and stay connected this season through a gift-box option that ships directly to others via the Digital Cookie platform.
How to safely purchase Girl Scout Cookies this season
Girl Scout Cookie season is recognized in New Hampshire and Vermont from now through March 22. Consumers can support Girl Scouts by purchasing Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Samoas, Trefoils, and more in a few different ways:
- If you know a registered Girl Scout, reach out to her to find out how she’s selling cookies in ways that meet local and state safety protocols.
- If you don’t know a Girl Scout, visit www.girlscoutcookies.org, text COOKIES to 59618, or use the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app for free on iOS or Android devices to find socially distant or contact-free cookie booths if they are available in your area.
- Beginning Feb. 1, enter your ZIP code into the Girl Scout Cookie Finder at www.girlscoutcookies.org to purchase from a local Girl Scout troop online for shipment to your door or to donate cookies to first responders and local causes.