Girl Scout 'Cookie Locator' Smartphone App gets a makeover
Girl Scout Cookie fans can now find nearby Girl Scout Cookie Booths by using a free Cookie Locator mobile app — now updated to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting in 2012! Searching by GPS location or zip code, customers can find cookie booths in their neighborhoods, map the locations and even add them to their calendars. They can also get details about favorite cookies and discover their “cookie personalities.”
The updated 100th Anniversary edition includes new features such as:
-- Delicious recipes using Girl Scout Cookies
-- Inspiring videos showcasing real Girl Scouts
-- Sign-ups for booth sale alerts and council news
-- Foursquare check-in
-- Cookie Season countdown
Girl Scout Cookie Booths are the final phase of the Girl Scout Cookie Program and allow people to buy Girl Scout Cookies through direct sales to the public. All booth locations accept cash and checks payable to Girl Scouts. All eight varieties of Girl Scout Cookies will be on sale for only $4 a box. Girls will be selling cookies at various times on weekends at cookie booths inside area locations from February 24-March 18, 2012.
The highly rated Cookie Locator App can be downloaded for free by simply calling **GSCookies (**472665437) from your mobile phone or by searching for “Cookie Locator” in the iPhone App Store or Android Marketplace.
“The response has been great,” said Madelon Koerner, Director of Product Sales for Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois (GSNI). “Many people don't know how to find Girl Scout Cookies, or they want more cookies than they ordered. Now, they'll know where to go and when the booths will be open. Plus, the new app is a lot of fun to use!”
The application, which is available for iPhone and Android devices, uses either GPS or manually entered ZIP codes, cities or states to find cookie booths near the customer. The app will conveniently map those locations and add the sale information to the calendar. In addition to locating the booths, customers can learn about their favorite cookies, including nutritional value and ingredients. Cookie lovers can take a fun, interactive quiz to learn their “cookie personalities.”
Users will also be able to share sale locations, cookie information and their cookie personalities with friends on Facebook, Twitter and via e-mail.
“The app is one more way that the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches girls important business, leadership and technology skills,” said Vicki Wright, CEO of GSNI.
The Cookie Locator App was developed by Little Brownie Bakers of Louisville, Ky., in 2011.
Other Ways to Locate Cookies
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. Customers can also visit www.girlscoutsni.org and use the cookie locator on the homepage.
About Cookie Program Proceeds
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.
About the Girl Scout Cookie Program
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 have the opportunity to give back to their community through the Girl Scout Cookie Program with the Gift of Caring. Girls can choose from offering customers the chance to purchase cookies for the military or for a community organization designated by the troop.
For more information on the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and the Girl Scout Cookie Program, visit www.girlscoutsni.org.
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.