CLEVELAND — One of the best seasons of the year has just begun — Girl Scout cookie season. Troops across northeast Ohio are now taking orders.
And, to no surprise, they're a hit already. In just one day of sales, the nearly 1,200 area troops have already sold more than 42,000 boxes.
But with the pandemic still in full swing, selling the boxes door-to-door isn’t possible for many girls.
“We really have been emphasizing safe sales for the girls and we've really tried to give them new digital tools in order to sell online," said Jane Christyson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio.
Christyson said they’re encouraging girls to set up their own digital storefront, selling cookies online using credit card payments. She said this cuts down on contact sales for safety concerns.
Not only are girls seeing success with sales, but scouts are also getting customers to donate boxes as well.
“So that the girls can then drop them off in bulk at places like hospitals or fire stations police stations. And they did a lot of that kind of work over the past couple of years and it has proven to be very good for the cookie sale and very good for the community as well," the CEO said.
But — for some the digital storefronts can be frustrating.
"That opportunity to talk about the cookies and to sell the benefits of the cookies and talk about which ones are vegan or gluten-free or whatever is a very important part of their learning process," she said. "And sometimes if it's more automated they don't get the chance to do that so that's the source of frustration for some of them.”
In addition to cookie booths you often see at grocery stores, troops around the area launched drive-thru booths as a result of the pandemic.
Christyson said they plan to continue those this year, beginning in March.
”Where you don't have to get out of your car you'll just drive through a line in your community and you'll be able to buy the cookies and they'll put it right in your trunk and it'll be contactless pretty much.”
If you don't know any young girls involved in Girl Scouts and you still want to order cookies to support their mission, you can also use the Girl Scouts Cookie Finder app.
Click hereto learn more.
