New cookie celebrates 100 years of Girl Scouting
There's something sweet about turning 100! Since 2012 marks 100 years of Girl Scouting, it makes sense there would be a special Girl Scout Cookie to mark the milestone — introducing Savannah Smiles a cool and crisp lemon wedge cookie, dusted with powdered sugar, and packed with just the right number of lemon chips to deliver tiny bursts of flavor! The cookie is named for Savannah, Georgia, where Girl Scout founder Juliette Low began the Girl Scout Movement in 1912. The cookie's curved shape is also designed in honor of the “Brownie Smile” each Girl Scout finds in her pocket, according to a well-known Girl Scout song.
Girl Scout Cookie orders will be taken Jan. 2-22 with delivery in mid-February. If you're not approached by a Girl Scout, you can e-mail cookies4you@girlscoutsni.org, and your cookie order will be passed on to a local Girl Scout!
This year's cookie lineup also includes Trefoils, a delicate tasting shortbread, Do-Si-Dos, a crunchy oatmeal cookie with peanut butter and Samoas, a vanilla cookie covered with caramel, coconut, and a rich, chocolaty coating. Dulce de Leche, inspired by the classic confections of Latin America, is a bite-size cookie with milk caramel chips. Thank U Berry Munch has tart cranberries nestled inside hearty cookies sweetened with white fudge chips. Of course, you can't forget Tagalongs, that 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. Each variety will be on sale for only $4 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.
Girl Scout Cookie Program Benefits
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:
1. Goal Setting
2. Decision Making
3. Money Management
4. People Skills
5. 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.
About Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois
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 grades K through 12 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 100th anniversary activities, or how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, visit www.girlscoutsni.org or call 1-800-242-5591.
About Girl Scouts of the USA
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.2 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. 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.