Local Girl Scouts go digital for cookie sale
Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois announced today that local girls will now have the ability to switch to an online system to take Girl Scout Cookie orders and turn in their orders to volunteers. No longer will girls rely solely on the familiar cardboard order card.
GSNI is one of two councils in the nation piloting a digital Girl Scout Cookie Program using an enhanced website called Cookie Club: Next Generation. Every local Girl Scout family can create an account with this password-protected website.
Girls can send specially designed emails asking for orders. Customers place orders by returning an online form that automatically registers in the girl’s account. If a girl takes orders using the traditional order card, she also records those in her account. Parents review orders for accuracy and submit the final online order for Girl Scout Cookies. In keeping with rules set by Girl Scouts of the USA, girls will still deliver the cookies and collect payment in person.
Also in Cookie Club, girls will set goals that inspire them and track their progress as they watch the virtual cookie boxes stack up and become safety certified for using the Internet.
“The Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches girls relevant business and technology skills, and Cookie Club will now play a key role in those leadership lessons,” said Vicki Wright, chief executive officer of GSNI, “Cookie Club is fun for girls, and they can readily see how technology can help them reach high goals.”
The Cookie Club was created by Little Brownie Bakers, one of two bakers licensed by Girl Scouts of the USA. Little Brownie Bakers has been baking Girl Scout Cookies since 1973, and is licensed by Girl Scouts of the USA. Little Brownie Bakers’ mission is to provide cookies and support services of the highest quality to Girl Scout Councils so that the annual Cookie Sale activities will help build a wide range of life skills for girls and generate income for Girl Scout troops and councils.
Girl Scout Cookie orders will be taken from January 2-22, 2012. If not approached by a Girl Scout, interested customers can email cookies4you@girlscoutsni.org, and a cookie order will be passed on to a local Girl Scout. 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 Soldiers 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.
For information on 100th anniversary activities, or how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, visit www.girlscoutsni.org or call (800) 242-5591.
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