Local Girl Scouts offering new snack bars, cookie boxes this year
Submitted by Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois
Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois was chosen as one of only six councils across the nation to pilot two varieties of Girl Scout Snack Bars during the 2013 Girl Scout Cookie Program.
Tagalongs snack bars feature rolled oats, cereal flakes, and chocolaty granola combined with peanut butter chips. Double Dutch snack bars are made of rolled oats, cereal flakes, and granola, sprinkled with dark chocolate chips and a chocolaty drizzle. Local Girl Scouts will offer bars by the box with five bars per box.
New this year are redesigned cookie boxes that capture the spirit of today’s Girl Scout, including what girls do in Girl Scouting, the girls’ stories, the five skills girls learn from the cookie program, and ways for former Girl Scouts to reconnect with the organization.
Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois is also participating in the “Super Six” program where girls will offer the six top-selling varieties of Girl Scout Cookies, as opposed to the traditional eight. Successfully tested, Super Six provides a much easier inventory experience for GSNI’s many hardworking cookie volunteers.
Girl Scout Cookie orders are being taken through Jan. 27 with delivery in mid-February. If you’re not approached by a Girl Scout, you can email cookies4you@girlscoutsni.org, and your cookie order will be passed on to a local Girl Scout.
This year’s cookie lineup includes Do-Si-Dos, a crunchy oatmeal cookie with peanut butter, and Samoas, a vanilla cookie covered with caramel, coconut, and a rich, chocolaty coating. Of course, you can’t forget Tagalongs, a tasty cookie topped with peanut butter and chocolate, or Thin Mints, the thin-wafer covered with a smooth chocolaty coating and made with natural peppermint. Girls also will take orders for Trefoils, a delicate tasting shortbread, and Savannah Smiles, a cool and crisp lemon wedge cookie. Each cookie variety will be on sale for $4 a box. The new snack bars are $5 a box.
Proceeds from the Girl Scout Cookie Program directly benefit girls in northern Illinois, supporting Girl Scout programs, camp scholarships, volunteer training, membership assistance, and outreach programs. Each troop receives a portion of the proceeds as discretionary funds for troop activities. In fact, the Girl Scout Cookie Program is one of the few youth-oriented programs in the country providing its participants the ability to decide how to direct the proceeds generated through their business activity.
Through Girl Scouting, girls become leaders in their daily lives and prepare for their futures. To millions of girls, Girl Scout Cookies provide an opportunity to travel, explore science and math, and learn about a career. Because not only are these cookies great, but they are at the center of the largest business and economic literacy program for girls. The Girl Scout Cookie Program provides an important ingredient for leadership by helping girls develop five key skills: goal setting; decision making; money management; people skills; and business ethics.
Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls participate in carefully developed, age-appropriate cookie activities that help develop these skills that they can apply throughout their lives. Even the youngest Girl Scouts gain self-confidence and poise by learning how to greet customers and offer cookies for purchase. As girls grow, emphasis is placed on getting to know their product — ingredients, calories — to designing innovative and creative marketing strategies and tools. Girls learn to plan, set goals, build teams, speak up, make decisions, solve problems and manage resources. Over time, the skills girls gain set them on a path to be leaders, in their own lives and in their communities.
Girls also have the opportunity to give back to their community through the Girl Scout Cookie Program with the Gift of Caring: Cookies for the Military or the Community Gift of Caring. Girls can choose from offering customers the chance to purchase cookies for soldiers, or purchase cookies for a community organization designated by the troop.
Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois serves nearly 20,000 girls and 6,000 adult volunteers in parts or all of Boone, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties.
Through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, girls in kindergarten to 12th grade are engaged in discovering themselves, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place. Girls develop leadership potential by participating in age-appropriate activities that enable them to discover their values, skills, and the world around them. Activities in science and technology, business and economic literacy, and outdoor and environmental awareness provide girls with opportunities for fun and friendship while fostering the development of leadership skills and self-esteem. For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, visit girlscoutsni.org or call (800) 242-5591.
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is a leadership development organization for girls with 3.2 million girl and adult members worldwide. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girl Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries.