HUNTSVILLE, Ala — What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie? We all have our "must-haves,", but were people able to get the sweets they love during the pandemic?
We can't resist the precious Girl Scout that sits outside the grocery store selling delicious Thin Mint cookies, but nationwide, girls scouts had plenty of boxes left unsold due to the pandemic. While cookie sales were low for Girl Scouts in general this year, that was not the case for Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama.
Karen Peterlin, CEO of Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama, said, "We don't have an excess of inventory. Our girls did a great job. Our girls were truly resilient. They were able to set up online stores, they sold via Facebook, they sold to their family and friends"
One troop even set up a drive-up cookie booth and had a huge turnout
Senior girl scout Amanda Browning was one of the scouts who got creative. She explains, "We went to a local daycare with a very busy intersection. With that we had a lot of people coming in and while we were setting up we had people coming in."
Amanda's dad was surprised by how well the troop did during such a tough year. David Browning said, "I thought it was going to be a bust only because COVID pretty much screwed up everything. I was concerned that we were not going to be able to get out and do the normal things that girls scouts were used to doing."
The scouts did so well that they were able to donate over 26,000 boxes of cookies to frontline workers or what they call frontline heroes.
Amanda says she and her troop were happy they were still able to give back during the pandemic and that they are so thankful that others supported them, too. She said, "This year taught me that no matter how rough times are, no matter what people are going through, the community is always going to be there for you and I really loved that"
Amanda's father is also proud of everything this program has done for his daughter. "I liked the fact that she's learning how to stand on her own, how to take care of herself, how to be her own person, and how to help others."
Although they did make sales, revenue was still low, as there were fewer girl scouts during the pandemic. Lower revenue means less money for scholarships. If you'd like to help out your local scouts, go to www.girlscoutnca.com.