It’s time once again to indulge your sweet tooth for a worthy cause.

Area Girl Scouts, including Troop 11135 in Great Bend, have kicked off pre-orders for their annual Girl Scout Cookie sale fundraiser, and direct sales are set to begin soon.

Larissa Graham, manager for the area Girl Scouts service unit, which includes Barton, Pawnee, Stafford and Rush counties, said local direct sales will run from Feb. 11 through March 27, although local scouts are already taking pre-orders for their cookies.

Scouts will have cookie boxes on hand after Feb. 11. They will also be out frequently in front of several local retail stores, including Walmart, Walgreens and Sutherlands. With the help of parents, Graham said, the Girl Scouts will be at two or three booths each weekend through the duration of the sale.

“There’ll be a whole bunch of different places people will be able to find them,” Graham said.

The price, which has not changed for several years, is $5 per box. This year, Graham said, customers will have nine different kinds of cookies to choose from, including one new flavor. 

The new addition is called Adventurefuls, which the Girl Scouts describe as, “an indulgent brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and a hint of sea salt.”

This joins another recent addition, the Tost-Yay!, a french-toast inspired icing-dipped cookie, along with classic favorites – Thin Mints, Caramel De-Lites, Peanut Butter Patties, Shortbread, Lemonades, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. For those on gluten-free diets, Graham said there is even a gluten-free option, Caramel Chocolate Chip.

Even if you don’t eat cookies yourself, Graham said you can still share with those that do.

The local troop participates in the “Cookie Share” program, in which they collect donations toward the purchase of cookie boxes to give away. In the past, in addition to service personnel, the local troop has supported local charities such as the Food Bank of Barton County.

If someone doesn’t know where to find cookies, Graham said they can call the Cookie Finder Hotline at 888-686-6468. This will connect them with a regional office that can put them in touch with one of the scouts to purchase cookies. If you know a scout, she can also help you purchase online through the Digital Cookie platform.

What the sales support

Graham said the cookies’ big flavors come with big benefits to the 25 local scouts in grades K-7 in Great Bend’s only troop, as well as current area Girl Scout troops in Stafford, St. John, Rozel, Larned and Claflin. Graham said Barton County communities Hoisington and Ellinwood do not currently have active troops, but she would like to expand back into those communities.

With Girl Scout Cookie sales, all the money stays local, Graham said. Net proceeds support the local troops.

The funds are especially important now as troops, including locally, face more challenges since the onset of COVID-19. Many troops have gotten smaller, she said, as they face a more difficult time finding individuals willing to volunteer as leaders. However, locally, support from the scouts’ families has always been strong.

The proceeds, Graham said, go toward supporting the local scouts in several ways.

Scouts are able to use the proceeds toward their yearly memberships or uniform and badge costs. The money is also used to help fund activities for the local troops, including troop trips. The trips, which are usually local or regional since the onset of COVID-19, are good bonding and learning experiences for the scouts, she said. All the net proceeds support the local troops.

Graham said it is not just the funds, though, that are important for the girls selling cookies. The fundraiser also is designed to teach the valuable real-world skills that will benefit them as they get older.

In addition to teaching practical skills such as sound decision making, goal setting and planning, Graham said the face-to-face nature of the fundraiser also teaches the girls interpersonal communication and relationship skills that will serve them well as they head into the business world.

“A lot of those skills are people skills. A lot of girls have never had to go door to door or be in a booth and ask somebody for something,” Graham said. “It teaches them business ethics. (For example), if somebody says no, what do you do?”

To find out more about local cookie sales, visit https://www.kansasgirlscouts.org/en/cookies/about-girl-scout-cookies.html.