ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
For more than a century, Girl Scouts across America have been selling cookies to raise money for troop projects and to support troops and councils.
February is here, and soon, young ladies will once again be selling the tasty treats everywhere, including Southwest Kansas, where Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland Troop Engagement Specialist Michelle Daniels and Product Program Specialist Jaclyn Vargas are gearing up for this year’s sales.
Daniels said all of the traditional favorite flavors of cookies will be available this year, but 2025 is the swan song for one of the newer flavors.
“This is the last year we will carry Toast-Yay!, the ones that taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch,” she said. “We’re retiring that flavor.”
Vargas said prices have gone up $1 for this year, with a box priced at $6. Daniels said area Girl Scouts are working on pre-sales at this time.
“You will see girls with their order forms,” Daniels said. “They don’t have any cookies on hand yet, but they still have their order forms. They can share their link online. You can place orders through there for delivery. Cookies will drop the first couple weeks of February, and sales officially kick off Feb. 14.”
Vargas said cookie sales have gone quite well recently in the Sunflower State.
“Last year, we did hit our council goal for Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland in our 80 counties,” she said.
Daniels said she has a Girl Scout signup event coming up Feb. 13 in Liberal, and she recently hosted a service unit kickoff. She said while weather brought in decreased numbers for that event, she did see Girl Scouts from Sublette, Plains and Kismet.
“They earned all of their five skills badges. They did different activities,” she said. “They decorated their money and learned how to count it. We did vision boards. We made name tags. We made megaphones for them. We went over different scenarios like if people say ‘yes,’ make sure you say your name, make sure you don’t go into people’s houses. That was a huge turnout.”
Daniels said other big events are scheduled for 2025 in Southwest Kansas.
“The Girl Scout Grand Prix, that’s going to be coming up pretty soon,” she said. “I’m still continuing with signup events as usual, getting the word out about Girl Scouts.”
Daniels said while scouts sold cookies at area events in 2024, no events have been booked for sales yet for this year.
“Last year, we did booths at the Winter Expo in Dodge City,” she said. “The Home Show in Liberal is after cookie sales are over, but we will have cookies in certain areas. The troop leader in Liberal is reaching out to a couple places trying to secure spots.”
In today’s worlds, sales of not only cookies, but many items have been done online. Vargas said in the past two years, online cookie sales have increased by about 25 percent.
“It used to be our sales were maybe 10 percent online,” she said. “Now, we have Digital Cookie. It’s a GSUSA Web site where girls can get on and send their link out to relatives, or they can print off QR codes where they can take credit cards at booths or even when they go door to door. That has helped a lot. Now, I bet our sales online are at least 25 percent, and it’s going to get more and more because people aren’t paying cash for hardly anything anymore. It’s always card.”
Daniels said cookie sales help with so many aspects in the life of a young lady.
“Not only are they learning the five skills and actually earning badges that correlate with that, but they’re also raising money for their troop and for themselves,” she said. “A portion of the proceeds stays in the troop, and a portion of the proceeds goes to the service unit.”
The communities Daniels serves in her capacity with GSKH are split into different service units, with girls in each unit able to do different activities and attend different trips and camps because of cookie sales.
“A portion of the sales goes into what is called program credits, and they are able to use those for memberships to buy different at a store, for different camps,” she said. “If the girls decide to travel either internationally or nationally, they are able to use their program credits towards that as well.”
The five skills Girl Scouts learn and work on are goal setting, money management, people skills, decision making and business ethics, and when it comes to what to spend the money raised from cookie sales on, Daniels said it is up to the girls themselves to set their own goals.
“It is up to them to decide what they want to spend their money on, whether they want to save up for a huge trip or go on a trip every year,” she said.
With newer troops recently formed in Elkhart, Plains, Kismet and even Liberal, Daniels said this will be an exciting time for those troops.
“They have not been able to do anything as a troop yet, so this will be the first year being able to participate,” she said. “The Sublette troop, we are a few years into it. This year, the girls have set a goal of 5,000 packages of cookies.”
Daniels said some area Girl Scouts may even be looking at a possible overnight trip to Oklahoma City.
“It’s completely up to the girls what they decide to do,” she said. “We just have to help them along the way. We want them to make the choices on their own, and with the girls making those choices, they are more eager to exceed those goals.”
Daniels hosted a signup event last fall in Liberal, and she said new girls are being added left and right to the Girl Scouts organization in Southwest Kansas.
“We’ve added new troops in the area,” she said. “Service Unit 72 had been down for a few years, but we have that up and going now. Not only are the troops going to have different activities they do, but now, the service unit is having activities for them as well.”
Daniels too said GSKH is constantly looking for more volunteers.
“I have some great ones, but we’re always looking to add more, whether it be somebody who wants to teach the girls how to sew or make candles,” she said. “We’re always looking for people to come help.”
To become a volunteer or order cookies, Daniel said to visit the GSKH Web site at www.kansasgirlscouts.org.
“It’ll show you how to sign up to be a volunteer,” she said. “All of our volunteers are members, but they are also background checked. We want to make sure we keep the girls safe. There is also what is called a cookie finder. You’ll type in your ZIP code, and it’ll show you all the booths that are happening in your area.”
Vargas said the Web site will likewise guide people to the troops and Girl Scouts to order cookies from or to visit booths where cookies may be sold.
“You can have them sent directly to your house too, but still have the girls get credit for it,” she said.
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“The appropriate staff member will reach out to them, or they can go to the Girl Scouts Web site,” Daniels said.