<p>I remember when there were so many Girl Scouts in my neighborhood that we had to divide it up. Haven’t had anyone come to my door this year - I’m thinking of putting a sign in my yard asking for a GS to come by!</p>
<p>I’m a former leader, so I always buy. The troops are not the only ones who get $$ - - they fund scholarships for older scouts, too (I know cuz D has one of those scholarships!). My dad is a big Samoas fan, so I always wrap up a couple of boxes for him at Christmas :)</p>
<p>oh this is sad, they’ve already been making boxes smaller &more expensive :(</p>
<p>but as a girl scout (once a girl scout, always a girl scout!) i will continue to buy those cookies until the day i die :] and then my children better continue buying them too!</p>
<p>
Absolutely! 
I’m a Life Member.</p>
<p>But why is it a big news story about GS cookies when almost every product out there has reduced their package size and/or raised their prices? Plus, IMO, people don’t buy GS cookies for the value – they buy them to support the Girl Scouts! Honestly, these cookies have never been marketed as the least expensive ones out there.</p>
<p>^^That’s exactly why I buy the cookies - to support the girls. I then bring the cookies to work, open the packs and spread the goodies on the lunchroom table. Fewer cookies per package means my coworkers will be healthier.</p>
<p>If it became necessary, I would sell aluminum cans to raise the $4 for a box of Thin Mints! Then upon delivery I would sit down and eat every single one of them right out of the box.</p>
<p>Oh wait, I do that second part already!</p>
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<p>Somebody in your office or your spouse’s office undoubtedly has a kid who’s selling them.</p>
<p>In my office, parents of kids who are selling things leave the form in the kitchen for a couple of days, and those who want to buy the products put their names and orders on the list. This is considered more tactful than actually hassling your co-workers to buy stuff.</p>
<p>My daughter has already called me and ask when I would be getting the cookies to send to her at school!! I only had one girl come by this year, so I only ordered 2 boxes. I usually order 2 per child and my husband orders from coworkers. Many of the troops set up in front of the grocery stores here, so I should be able to pick up a few boxes. </p>
<p>I went to the girl scout site last night and noticed that different areas of the country have a few different cookies; or rather not all cookies are sold in all areas. I am hoping the new Dulce de Leche are good as that is what I ordered for me along with my Tagalongs!</p>
<p>[Girl</a> Scout Cookies | Meet the Cookies](<a href=“http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/meet_cookies.asp]Girl”>http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/meet_cookies.asp)</p>
<p>Also, the peanut butter cookies are not affected by the recalls!</p>
<p>Nope, I work at home, dh works with grad students. There really isn’t the culture of selling stuff at the office where he works.</p>
<p>Door to door sales for girl scout cookies or school giftwrap/candy is strongly discouraged due to the risks of knocking on a stranger’s door. Sad but true. I think they may say its OK to knock on a friend’s door, but usually the scouts are selling in front of the grocery stores, pharmacies, etc. They are told to get mom and dad to take boxes to work, ask relatives. So those of you waiting for the doorbell to ring, you will have to look for the tables set up at a grocer near you. </p>
<p>I have a neice who is a scout. We buy 20ish boxes and my sister ships them from CT. I freeze them, and 1-2 boxes a month is a nice treat. </p>
<p>I miss the ones that were like shortbread on the bottom with a “well” filled with chocolate on the top. There were only a few to a box (8 maybe), but they were big and yummy. Last year they remodeled the cookie into smaller ones, but the chocolate was not as good. Now they are gone from the list. At least the list I get from CT. They are out in front of stores here in Florida (the warmer locations sell them earlier than the colder/more northern locations) so I will see if they have any here… (The good ones were called Animal Treasures)</p>
<p>It’s been a few years since I was Service Unit Cookie Chair (& before that, Council President), so not sure if this is still the case, but there are only 2 GS cookie bakers. Each council negotiates with the bakers and chooses which one to use. Councils also set their own price per box. From time to time the bakers introduce new cookie varieties – some are hits; some aren’t.</p>
<p>Frozen Thin Mints are a gift from heaven! And I don’t eat the whole box…just the cookies.</p>
<p>I’ve been the Cookie Coordinator for my kids’ troops in the past. The pre-sold cookies are not a concern, but most troops order extra cases of cookies for their booth sales (in front of grocery stores, etc.). My biggest worry is being stuck with lots of cookies we couldn’t sell at the booth sales. That eats into profit BIG TIME. Getting donations is nice–but I got to get rid of those cookies!</p>
<p>Along with putting change in Salvation Army buckets at Christmas time, I buy GS cookies as a charitable contribution. They are not a good value.</p>
<p>Times have changed. My d, now 21 sold these door to door in our neighborhood with one of us parents tagging along (no pun intended). She sold a gazillion boxes each year, and gleaned five or six years of awards for top producer in council, district.</p>
<p>We did a few years as Cookie Mom for the troop, and I remember a couple of trips each year culminating in full Suburban loads to pick up the troop’s order. Also a dining room full of cookies waiting for the parents to pick up their orders. The money handling and verification was always a pain.</p>
<p>The last few years, (d did continue through high school) there were virtually no door to door sales, even in residential neighborhoods, as they were formally discouraged. D would always do a 2 block radius hitting her best customers throughout the years, but the bulk of the sales were from booth sales set up in parking lots and in front of store entrances.</p>
<p>As for the timing, the traditional door to door selling period had always been throughout the month of November, and there were strict beginning and end dates. As for booth sales, if a troop had committed to a bulk buy for booth sale use, they could sell them indefinitely until they exhausted their stock.</p>
<p>When d was involved, we always had a 3 case order. Haven’t had a GS cookie in at least five years, haven’t has a GS at the door in at least 10 years. Even when she was selling, I’d always buy a couple of boxes from whoever knocked.</p>
<p>Yeah, the cookies have shrunk, the per package count has been reduced, the trans fats are gone, and the price has gone up.</p>
<p>As others have said, it’s not about the cookies, but the girls, and the organization. I agree that the profit distribution could use a rework.</p>
<p>I was a girls scout mom for many years and have sold and bought cookies form friends and coworkers as well. But I have stopped because the troop gets 10% on each box, so that is 40 cents a box. I started donating money instead to the troop. Also, the cookie coordinator has to buy the whole case rather than the amount of cookies ordered, I think the Girls Scouts are getting away with doing this. I agree that it is about the girls and the organization, so that is why I contribute money directly to the troop at hand.</p>
<p>The main cookie bakers are ABC Bakeries and Little Brownie Bakers. I think there is/was a third bakery, but it only served a few councils. </p>
<p>I’ll never forget one of my last cookie booths - my girls were HS juniors at the time. An older woman came up to them and very angrily said that only “little girls” were supposed to sell GS cookies. I didn’t hear this or I would have given her an education in older girl programs.</p>
<p>We’ve never bought them. Too expensive and I hate kids having to fundraise.</p>
<p>as others have said, the cookie profits are divided between the girl, the troop, the council, and the baker. The council portion goes for upkeep to council properties, staff expenses (which are taking a downturn as everything else in the economy), marketing, and financial aid. Councils are trying to lessen their dependence on product sales as part of their budgets, but other parts like corporate and united way contributions are shrinking also.</p>
<p>Well run troops also use the cookie sale as part of a larger program to teach budgeting and goal setting and entrepreneurship, and this year philanthropy is part of the activities which can tie in with the cookie donations.</p>
<p>My younger daughter was able to fund a good portion of a council trip to England last summer through cookie sales. They both also fund the majority of their camp sessions directly, and indirectly in helping to support the facilities and staff.</p>
<p>In Girl Scout lingo, adults fundraise but the girls participate in money earners. I am happy they are able to contribute to their girl scout experiences, as opposed to some school activities which aren’t bothered to have an option for the kids to contribute (even when I volunteering to run something, too much bother) opposed to parents writing the check.</p>
<p>I am the Service Unit Cookie Mgr (oversee about 35 troops), Troop Cookie Mgr (25 Seniors–high school age Girl Scouts) and volunteer on the Council wide commitee for Product Sales for the whole Girl Scout Council in our area…so I really know the cookie sale.
Yes, there are two bakers: Little Brownie and ABC Bakers. Council’s set the price. The troop profit varies by Council (ours is a minimum of 70 cents). And the troops do benefit from the Council profit portion: it pays for training of Leaders, insurance, property ownership (camps, Scout houses), and a variety of other things it takes to offer Girl Scouts in a specific area.
The Sr Troop DD is involved with does do the whole budgeting, goal setting, entrpreneurship training each year. And they sell cookies for Helping Our Troops and Second Harvest each year. They have funded international travel, fabulous Gold Award Projects that have huge positive impacts on the community, Council trips and a variety of other events. These girls are amazing–currently planning a campout for over 200 participants (girl planned, girl organized and girl run–really).</p>
<p>And yes, it takes a big vehicle to transport all those cookies. My Serive Unit cookies arrive in a couple of moving vans–all 4,000 cases! We sort into troop lots, double count and have them all picked up within 6 hours…it’s amazing. I do start a couple of hours before the sorting volunteers in order to count them all. Lots of service hours for those that show up.
Please consider supporting Girl Scouts–anyway you want to!</p>
<p>I buy cookies from a mom who sells them for her daughter. This is not an area where kids go door to door. The schools here discourage that kind of fund raising. Now that kids should not be doing that, it puts the onus on parents to be hitting up people they know. It’s rough year for fund raising for everyone. I shall buy a few boxes anyhow; I have eaten those cookies for nearly 50 years!</p>