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4 girls combine to sell more than $40,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies

Following a tip from a car salesman, Marissa Dambra knew exactly how to sell Girl Scout cookies this year.

The salesman told Marissa, “You don't ask if they want to buy ... you ask people how many they want to buy.”

The 9-year-old from Streamwood says it was her “best sales pitch.”

Marissa and three other suburban girls are the top cookie sellers for the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois this year.

Third-graders and Brownies Kayla Mele, 8, of Heritage Elementary School in Streamwood, Marissa Dambra and Guinevere Larson, 9, both of Oakhill Elementary School in Streamwood, and Cadette Amber Arnold, 12, of Aurora, a sixth-grader at St. Luke's Lutheran School in Montgomery, sold more than 2,500 boxes each. At $4 a box, the four girls collectively sold more than $40,000 worth of cookies earning the top prize — a four-day trip for themselves and accompanying chaperones to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, complete with airfare, hotels and park hopper passes.

Marissa said that prize was her main motivation to sell.

“Every second I was like, ‘I'm going to do it,' ” she said. “I'm very excited. I love Disney World.”

The girls also won a limousine ride and lunch with Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois CEO Fiona Cummings, and other prizes including iPads, season passes to Six Flags Great America, T-shirts, bags, stuffed toys, pencils and journals for meeting various levels of sales.

“It's the first time we've ever done an (Disney) incentive,” said Cindy Kocol, director of alumni and media relations for Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois. “It's a lot of work (selling 2,500 boxes) and they were pretty excited.”

The girls beat more than 11,000 girls from kindergarten through 12th grade who sold more than 1.5 million boxes, said Holly Bartelt, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois director of product programs.

Kayla, Marissa and Guinevere attend Elgin Area School District U-46 schools and are from Troop 643 in Streamwood. All three were among the top 10 sellers for the region last year, as well.

“It was kind of surprising to see all three girls in the same troop earned it,” Bartelt said. “That was awesome but unusual. It shows the strong leadership within the troop ... helping the girls to achieve those goals. The Brownie and junior level of Girl Scouts, they are really some of our top sellers annually.”

The cookie program aims to help Scouts develop skills, such as goal setting, decision making, communication, money management and business ethics. The girls learn teamwork and marketing techniques. They start planning for sales in January, then go door-to-door and man booths selling cookies, and take and deliver orders within several weeks.

“That builds self-confidence in them to be able to approach people and be pleasant, and learn how to accept a ‘no,' ” Kocol said.

Marissa's mom, Jolene Dambra, said she coached her daughter on how to grab people's attention and make a sale.

“She's got a lot of good comebacks,” she said. “It's a lot of work for the parents and the kids. I don't know if I can handle this next year.”

Kayla said she set a goal of selling 50 boxes daily after school.

“It was hard in the beginning, but then in the end I got kind of used to it,” she said, adding, “I sold the most on weekends” when she would set up booths at Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Jewel.

The Streamwood Scouts also got people to donate more than 100 boxes to three Streamwood fire stations and the Community Crisis Center in Elgin, said Kayla's mother, Joanna Mele, a troop leader.

Troops also earn 50 cents per box sold and can use the money to finance a summer camp session, a community service project, or a troop trip.

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