The
"Cookies are coming!" exclaims a blue banner on the Girl Scouts' website. The image shows
pictures of the full cookie team, including the cookie MVP (Thin Mints), the
cookie power-forward (Samoas), and the cookie mascot (Trefoils with the iconic
Girl Scout logo imprinted). If that weren't enough to get excited about, this
year's rookie on the roster is Toast-Yay!, a promising addition to the lineup
that comes in packing French-toast flavor and shaped like a mini-toast
sandwich.
Girl
Scout Cookie season in Louisiana East will run from Friday, January 15, through
Sunday, March 14. As the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program, the Girl
Scouts continue to teach kids valuable skills. The cookies are an educational
tool, and Rebecca Pennington, CEO of Girl Scouts Louisiana East, said, "People
will notice some delightful changes to the way we do cookie season this year.
With more emphasis on using technology and using girl-powered creative
solutions, such as innovative drive-thru cookie booths, we hope our communities
will support their local Girl Scouts with the same energy and excitement as
they have in years past."
Adjusting
to the digital terrain, individual Girl Scouts have their own URLs to share
with family and friends via social media or email. The personalized links make
sure that proceeds go towards the member's troop and toward her cookie sale
count. If you don't know a Girl Scout, finding a local troop is made easy at Girlscoutcookies.org or by
texting COOKIES to 59618. There's also a Girl Scout Cookie Finder app to locate
socially distant/contact-free cookie booths near year.
The
most notable move toward a digital revamp shouldn't come as a surprise: The
Girl Scouts are teaming up with Grubhub. From Thursday, February 25, to Sunday,
March 14, orders can be placed on the Grubhub website or app. Seeing how the
food landscape has been changed by COVID-19, it makes sense to see the pairing
of America's most famous cookies with a popular platform like Grubhub. For
cookie-hungry folks in metro New Orleans or Baton Rouge, the convenience of
going to Grubhub's website or app means that cookies are at your fingertips,
even if the cupboards are bare. In the era of health precautions, this service
is especially invaluable to people in more vulnerable categories of risk.
From
the perspective of the Girl Scouts as an organization, pairing with a popular
delivery platform provides a wider reach. More proceeds from the cookies mean
more funding for the troops, council, and program at large. Additionally, the
girls themselves will be given on-the-ground experience in e-commerce, which
includes glimpses into tracking and fulfilling orders, managing inventory, and
Grubhub's back-end technology.
As
in years previous, a number of local businesses will be making space outside
their retail locations for Girl Scouts to set up booths. Beginning Monday,
February 1, use the Girl Scout Cookie Finder app, website, or text code (COOKIES to
59618) to find a location near you. When spotted out in the wild, those
familiar colorful cookie boxes are a sight for sore eyes. Delicious and
time-tested traditions like Girl Scout Cookie season feel more welcome than
ever in times like these.