Girl Scouts of the USA Celebrates 100 Years of Girl Scouts Selling Cookies

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) announced today the start of the 2017 cookie season, which marks the 100th year of the first known sale of cookies by Girl Scouts. A century ago, girls started participating in what would evolve into the largest entrepreneurial training program for girls in the world: the Girl Scout Cookie Program. Through the program, girls learn the essential skills they need to become effective leaders, manage finances, gain self-sufficiency, and develop confidence in handling money. To commemorate this banner year for the organization and celebrate how the cookie program powers amazing experiences for Girl Scouts year-round, the highly anticipated Girl Scout S'mores cookies are now available, joining classics like Thin Mints and Trefoils/Shortbread.

The sale of cookies by Girl Scouts had humble beginnings, born as a way for troops to finance activities. The first known sale of cookies by Girl Scouts occurred in 1917, when the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in their high school cafeteria as a service project. As the Girl Scout Cookie Program developed and evolved, it not only became a vehicle for teachingfive essential skillsgoal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethicsbut it also enabled collaboration and integration, as early as the 1950s, among girls and troops of diverse backgrounds as they worked together toward common goals.

Today, nearly 1 million Girl Scouts participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program, generating nearly $800 million in cookie sales during the average season. All of the net revenue raised through the Girl Scout Cookie Program100 percent of it stays with the local council and troops. With over 50 million households purchasing cookies every season, the irresistible treats can be found nationwide and will hold a beloved place in Americana for years to come, continuing to help girls take the lead and, ultimately, change the world.

"I am so thrilled that, as an organization, we've reached such an important milestonecelebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts selling cookies," said Sylvia Acevedo, interim CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. "The Girl Scout Cookie Program has long been the engine that powers Girl Scouts on every level. Cookie earnings fund local council programming for girls and allow girls to do incredible things of their own choosingfrom civic-engagement projects to educational travel opportunities, and beyond. Each box of delicious Girl Scout Cookies and the entrepreneurial skills gained by participating in the Girl Scout Cookie programhelps girls fulfill their dreams, follow their passions, take the lead in their lives and communities, and change the world."

Girl Scout Cookies not only help Girl Scouts earn money for fun, educational activities and community projects, but also play a huge role in guiding girls to discover their inner G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) as they learn essential life skills that will stay with them forever. Starting from the momentous, first known sale, Girl Scout Cookies have gone on to become an indelible part of American pop culture and historyand have enjoyed support from some equally iconic figures and notables. Babe Ruth promoted the Million Cookie Drive during the 1924 World Series. Former First Lady Lou Henry Hoover inspired the first organized national sale of Girl Scout Cookies in 1933 as a way to cope with the effects of the Great Depression. And when the popularity of Girl Scout Cookies soared higher than expected in 1936, commercial cookie bakers were called in to assist in making the sweet treats. Last year, the audience at the 88th Academy Awards ceremony was eating out of Girl Scouts' hands, with film stars clamoring to buy and munch on cookies during the telecast.

Not even cataclysmic world events have dimmed the popularity of Girl Scout Cookies or the resolve of tenacious and resourceful girls. During World War II, there was a global shortage of cooking ingredients like eggs, milk, and sugarand Girl Scouts, too, were faced with imposed war rationing. Girl Scouts sold calendars with images of them engaged in wartime service activities instead of cookies, and supported the war effort through humanitarian actions like running farm-aid projects, planting victory gardens, and sponsoring defense institutes that taught women's survival skills and techniques for comforting children during air raids. When postwar prosperity flourished across the country, Girl Scouts employed clever new sales tactics to their advantage. By going door-to-door and setting up booths in shopping malls, the girls were able to reach customers in innovative ways, as well as sell a brand new cookiethe now iconic Thin Mints, which first were produced in 1939 as "Cooky-Mints."

As the organization entered the latter half of the 20th century, Girl Scout Cookies continued to power once-in-a-lifetime experiences for girls. Whether they used their cookie earnings to attend the Apollo 12 launch at Cape Kennedy, Florida, or to microfinance their big ideas to get to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, cookie earnings have transported as well as transformed girls.

With the emergence of the Internet and rise of ecommerce, girls were eager to harness the power of technology to expand their communication channels. In December 2014, Girl Scouts responded by launching a scalable electronic addition called the Digital Cookie platform. The new online expansion of the Girl Scout Cookie Program provided a platform for girls to market and sell cookies to customers online and via mobile devices. Digital Cookie made its official debut at the annual 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)where Girl Scouts was one of the first youth-serving organizations to present and one of, if not the first, to provide a booth run entirely by girls. Girl Scouts is thrilled to announce that Dell and Visa Checkout will continue their support of the platform, which continues to grow across the nation.

The celebration of 100 years of Girl Scouts selling cookies will kick into high gear during National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend 2017. From February 24 to 26, Girl Scout councils around the country will be hosting events and cookie booths for cookie enthusiasts to get their hands on the iconic treats and join in the fun. To find cookie varieties available locally or learn more about the history of Girl Scout cookies and the Girl Scout Cookie Program, visit www.girlscoutcookies.org. To join or volunteer, visit www.girlscouts.org/join and www.girlscouts.org/volunteer.

We're Girl Scouts of the USA
We're 2.7 million strong1.9 million girls and 800,000 adults who believe girls can change the world. It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Girl Scouts' founder Juliette Gordon "Daisy" Low, who believed in the power of every girl. She organized the first Girl Scout troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, and every year since, we've made her vision a reality, helping girls discover their strengths, passions, and talents. Today we continue the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We're the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visitwww.girlscouts.org.

SOURCE Girl Scouts of the USA

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