By Amy Batista, Special Writer
DAYTON — It’s that time of year again.
Girl Scout cookies once again are on sale.
Girl Scout cookie sellers from all around the area lined up their cars at the Sunny Delight warehouse on Corn Road on Friday and Saturday to pick up initial cookie orders.
”It was a mad rush for the first hour,” said South Brunswick Service Unit Manager Cindy Beim, who was helping to check in cars picking up orders Friday.
Volunteers, service unit managers, Girl Scouts and dads volunteered to help lend a hand distributing cookies for those who came to pick up the initial orders.
Today (Jan. 15) marks the beginning of the annual sale of Girl Scout cookies for the Central and Southern New Jersey area. The sale goes through March 8.
”On Jan. 15, Girl Scouts begin selling your favorite Girl Scout cookies — thin mints, caramel deLites, peanut butter patties, peanut butter sandwich, shortbread, lemonades, Thanks-A-Lot, cranberry citrus crisps and the new gluten-free Girl Scout cookie trios,” said Angela Joyner, Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey director of product program in an email.
She said the gluten-free trios was developed in response to requests from councils, volunteers, girls and consumers.
”This cookie allows celiac disease sufferers and those trying to avoid gluten to support the efforts of Girl Scouts as they enjoy a product created just for them,” she said. “It is made with real peanut butter, real chocolate chips and certified gluten-free whole grain oats. It has no artificial flavors, no artificial colors, no high-fructose corn syrup, no palm oil and no hydrogenated oils.”
ABC is one of two licensed Girl Scout Cookie bakers that serve councils across the country and is the oldest and most experienced licensed Girl Scout cookie baker, according to the organization.
It became the official Girl Scout cookie bakers in 1937. Each council may choose its baker independently each year, according to its website.
Gluten-free cookies will sell for $5 per box while all other cookie varieties will sell for $4 per box, she said.
Girl Scouts also are offering a buy five customer incentive.
”Customers may enter a drawing for a year of free cookies when purchasing five boxes in one transaction,” she said. “Girls will give customers the buy five postcard at the time of purchase. Five winners will be selected, and they will receive five cases of cookies.”
Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey services girls who live in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex and Salem counties and parts of Monmouth County. The baker is ABC Bakers of Richmond, Virginia.
GSCSNJ provides programs for more 21,500 New Jersey girls who live in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex and Salem counties and parts of Monmouth County, she said.
The cookie sales make up a large part of the Girl Scouts yearly budget.
The program is the largest girl-led business in the country and generates more than $790 million for girls in communities across the country, according to the organization.
”It is good for the girls,” Ms. Beim said. “They are learning how to interact with the public. They take noes as well as yes’s.”
She asks that people support them.
”If you are not going to buy, we understand, but they should at least acknowledge (the girls) because that’s how the girls learn to say thank you anyway and so on,” she said.
She said the girls get more responsibility as they get older.
”They are learning how to sell as well as what to do with their money,” she said.
Her service unit services between 40 and 50 troops and serves all of the South Brunswick area.
The program teaches girls five essential business skills, including goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.
These are skills girls carry with them for a lifetime of success, Ms. Joyner said.
”In 2014, over 15,000 girls and 1,700 troops participated in the Girl Scout cookie program,” Ms. Joyner said.
Lead the Change is the theme for this year’s Girl Scout cookie program.
For Vittoria Flick, 16, of Dayton, the highlight of the cookie program is “being able to strengthen my people skills and learning how to handle certain situations.”
Ms. Joyner said the girls decide how to spend their troop cookie money and reinvest it back into their neighborhoods through community service projects and learning experiences, like travel opportunities.
”Because 100 percent of the net revenue raised through the Girl Scout cookie program stays with the local council and troops, customers who purchase Girl Scout cookies are not only getting a delightful treat, they are also making an important investment in their communities,” she said.
”I love that I can earn money to do fun things because it teaches me a strong work ethic,” said Jordyn Cascone, 13, of Hamilton Square. “The more cookies we sell, the more activities we get to participate in.”
Ms. Joyner said help the girls “Lead the Change” by becoming a Girl Scout volunteer.
Those interested in becoming a volunteer should visit.gscsnj.org.
New this year is digital online cookies, which is a tool that can be used with the regular cookie order process to help enhance sales for the girls. Girls can advertise the sale, solicit sales and receive product orders online as a way of boosting sales and helping them to reach their goals.
”For the first time in Girl Scout history, girls from local troops will be part of Girl Scouts’ new national digital cookie platform, a revolutionary addition to the Girl Scout cookie program that will enhance and expand the program’s ability to teach girls new skills for business and life,” she said. “The groundbreaking platform adds a digital layer that broadens and strengthens the essential five skills girls learn in the traditional cookie program.”
She said the future of the Girl Scout cookie program, digital cookie, will introduce vital 21st-century lessons about online marketing, application use and e-commerce to more than 1 million Girl Scouts.
”Digital cookie follows Girl Scouts’ classic ‘hands-on’ approach to teaching girls new skills,” she said. “Through the platform, local Girl Scouts will be able to take in-person cookie orders from customers and, for the first time, automate cookie shipments through a unique transaction application designed specifically for Girl Scouts.”
She said customers who buy cookies from girls using the application will be able to have their order processed, paid for and confirmed right in front of their eyes.
”The platform places an emphasis on the safety of girls and customers alike and offers an online experience that allows girls to learn about digital money management using dashboards to track their sales and goals and teaches modern skills while aligning with the interests of today’s girls,” she said.
”Through digital cookie, we are bringing the Girl Scout cookie program fully into the 21st century,” said Ginny Marino, CEO of Girl Scouts of Central & Southern NJ. “Digital cookie lets us continue our proud tradition of teaching today’s girls the skills of tomorrow while remaining true to the core principles of the Girl Scout mission and the values taught by our iconic cookie program. So join us this cookie season in making Girl Scout history.”
Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore girls will be taking order starting Jan. 16 through Feb. 1. Cookies will be delivered in March along with booth sales, which begin and end in April.
That group’s cookie baker is Little Brownie Bakers.
From grocery stores to train stations, Girl Scouts will be setting up cookie booths for the annual fundraising program.
Besides the normal favorites, like thin mints, this year’s batch features the new Rah-Rah Raisin and Toffee-Tastic, which are the gluten-free cookies, according to its website.
The Rah-Rah Raisins is an oatmeal cookie with raisins and Greek yogurt-flavored chunks while the Toffee-Tastic gluten-free cookie is buttery with sweet crunchy toffee bites, according to its website.
All varieties sold by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore are $4 per box except the gluten-free cookie, Toffee-Tastic, which is $5.50 per box.
Those who cannot eat sweets, some councils like GSCSNJ offer an option called Taste of Home in which customers can purchase Girl Scout cookies to donate to the U.S. military. Donated Girl Scout cookies will support the men and women of the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
”In 2014, GSCSNJ troops donated 20,736 boxes of cookies through the Taste of Home program,” Ms. Joyner said.
To find a cookie booth, visit girlscoutcookies.org or download the mobile app available for Android and Apple devices. To learn more about the sale, visit www.gscsnj.org. or www.girlscoutsjs.org.
