Strollerderby : Girl Scout cookies

Girl Scouts Use Cookie Money For Soldier's Care Package

Brett Singer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:30:00 GMT

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree that soldiers need our emotional support. Plus a frisbee. It'll help with morale.

That's why the Girl Scouts of Troop 1766 at Saint Mary Magdalen School in St. Louis decided to use their earnings from sales of Thin Mints, Samosas and all the other treats to buy some fun stuff to send to Gene McNeil, a soldier currently serving in Afghanistan. McNeil is the father of five Saint Mary's students.

The girls earned enough to pack five boxes full of "Frisbees, Nerf footballs, games, snacks, personal care items and a God's Cod Fish Fry shirt from this year's Lenten fish fries," according to the Webster-Kirkwood Times. They also included a note that said the gifts were "Purchased with our cookie sale money to thank you for your service!"

Aw.

I'd rather have everybody safe on U.S. soil, but if they have to go "over there" as the song says, something like this should at least bring them a much deserved smile.

Source

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The Girls Scouts Are Old School – Stop Cyber Cookie Promoting

SunnyChanel — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:22:00 GMT

The Girl Scouts are old school. And they’d like to keep it that way. In a day and age where kids of all ages are exceedingly tech savvy, the Girls Scouts of America does not approve of their troops utilizing technology to get ahead in the competitive world of cookie sales.

Eight-year-old Wild Freeborn (now that’s a name!) enlisted the aid of her web designer dad and posted a You Tube video to promote sales of her cookies to the general public of her home town of Asheville, North Carolina. Her goal was to sell 12,000 boxes so she could send her and her entire troop to Girl Scout summer camp.

After generating about 700 orders through this marketing strategy, the officials at Girl Scouts HQ asked that the ‘ad’ be taken down citing that it was a violation of their policies. There is a rule saying that a Girl Scout cannot directly sell via the internet but Wild and her dad did not think they were breaking any rules since they weren’t directly selling the cookies but just promoting the sale of them.

In response to the situation on the Today Show, Denise Pesich,a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, said in regards to not utilizing the net, “There are good reasons for that,” she explained. “We want to make sure that whatever the girl is doing is integrated into the program that she’s studying, we want to make sure we are in the development stages of a technological platform that will integrate it and be fair and equitable for all girls. But more importantly, it’s girl safety at its core.” Matt Lauer asked, “Is it less safe to sell online than to go door to door in some communities?”

Her reply was that “When we sell door to door we always have adults accompanying girls,” she replied. “In this case, we have a very concerned father overseeing the process, and we know she’s relatively safe. But not in all cases is that true.”
Even though her marketing scheme was cut short, Wild is optimistic that she’ll be able to reach that 12,000 mark. And the Today show is willing to do their part with Matt Lauer saying that the crew would surely buy some boxes.

It’s a shame that the Girl Scouts aren’t embracing this tech savvy and very contemporary avenue of entrepreneurship. Do you think the Girl Scouts should have allowed this type of promotion or should cookie sales be strictly ‘off line’.

Source

Salmonella Might Be In Second Peanut Plant

Brett Singer — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:26:00 GMT

The AP is reporting that samples from a second Texas plant owned by The Peanut Corp. of America have a "presumptive positive" result. What'd they find? Salmonella.

This just keeps getting worse.

The news is currently being reported as a "maybe," and the AP story says that no products from the plant were shipped to consumers. Personally I have a hard time believing that. Not that I have any knowledge of the situation beyond what I've read. I'm just suspicious.

This line made me furious: the plant in Plainview, Texas "had operated unlicensed and uninspected for nearly four years." How exactly does something like that happen?

Are you still giving your kids peanut butter and jelly? Or have you switched to cream cheese or some other sandwich spread?

Source: AP via Yahoo! News

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Is It Wrong for Parents to Sell Girl Scout Cookies for their Daughters?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:30:00 GMT

In this not exactly neighborly modern world of ours, eight-year-olds in Girl Scout vests are much less likely to go door-to-door pedaling Thin Mints and Somoas than they once were. So how do 200 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies still get sold every year? Their parents, of course!

CNN reports that parents are increasingly relying on their jobs and connections to make cookie sales for their daughters, who then get the credit. Opinion is divided as to whether this is simply a sensible, safe way to get the cookies sold—supporting a good cause and satisfying America’s sweet tooth—or whether this deprives young girls of the intended lessons of cookie-selling, not to mention creating an unfair playing field in which girls are punished or rewarded for their parents’ success.

It seems clear to me that parents selling cookies when their daughters aren’t even present is not right (and it goes against the recommendation of the Girl Scouts organization). Although, come to think of it, I’d probably still buy a box if I was hungry and had five bucks on me....which just shows how wrong it is for parents to exploit a national addiction like that.

But I used to buy all my annual Girl Scout cookies at work, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. My coworker walked around the office with her daughter, who shyly and sweetly did all the talking. I was always grateful for both the distraction and the sugar fix. I mean, who doesn’t want to buy a box of thin mints from an adorable eight-year-old? (And then eat half the pack while slowly blinding yourself in the eerie glow of computer screens and neon lights…but I digress.)

If it had been my boss’s daughter going around selling cookies, then the dynamic would have been more problematic. What employee is going to refuse to buy cookies from the boss’s daughter? This means that girls with parents in more powerful positions are more likely to sell more cookies—and, alas!, even Somoas play a part in perpetrating social inequality.

Perhaps the most ethically unquestionable and effective way to sell cookies is to have girls set up a booth in a public place. This way, they’re doing the work themselves, they’re not in any danger, and they’re offering passersby a very important public service.

Photo: Once Upon a Plate

Whew! Girl Scout Cookies Safe From Peanut Butter Scare

Kate Tuttle — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:01:00 GMT

It's always a big day in our house when we order our boxes of Girl Scout cookies. We don't eat a ton of institutional peanut butter or store-bought cookies in our house, so we hadn't been terribly concerned about the latest salmonella outbreak, but when news came today clearing our beloved Caramel De-Lites (formerly known as Samoas), we all cheered!

Despite some worried calls to local leaders around the country, apparently this season's Girl Scout cookie sales have not been dented by the salmonella scare, nor even by the nation's crumbling economy. Some things really are too big to fail.

In related news, Girl Scouts thin mint cookies are, despite an oversight in the labeling process, kosher.

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Girl Scouts Suffering From Economic Downturn Too

JeanneSager — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:28:00 GMT

If you've been counting the days 'til you could pound a sleeve of Thin Mint-y goodness, you might want to count out some extra pennies.

The Girl Scouts of America have been feeling the credit crunch, and they've compensated with a reduction in cookies. Same $3.50 cost a box - just smaller boxes.

Costs for the Scouts are up - with flour rising more than thirty percent, cocoa by at least twenty percent and cooking oils anywhere form forty to one hundred eight-seven percent. That gave the head honchos at Girl Scouts of America three choices: up prices, use cheaper ingredients or sell smaller boxes.

Rather than compromise the quality of the treasured Tag-a-long, they're forcing us to slim our waistlines - or slim our pocketbooks. Want the same number of minty fresh chocolate goodies? Cough up a little more dough.

No one ever said little girls couldn't drive a hard bargain. Good news is out there though - some troops are cutting out the ordering form and stocking up ahead of time on boxes of deliciousness. No more weeks of bugging the kid around the corner while you drool. To find cookies near you, check out GirlScoutCookies.org!

Image: GirlScoutCookies.org

Via Buzzfeed

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When Girl Scout Cookie Sellers Do It e-Bay

Jen Chaney — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:02:00 GMT

First Girl Scout cookies decided to get all health conscious on us, as Kelly told us last week. Now comes even more disturbing news: Some people are now selling Samoas, Trefoils and Thin Mints on e-Bay.

The Poop, the San Francisco Chronicle's baby blog, pointed out that several individuals are pushing Girl Scout cookies on the popular Internet auction site. Of course, the young members of this organization are not allowed to hawk their sugary wares online. Anyone who does so is clearly breaking the rules. But I take less issue with that than I do with adults re-selling the cookies themselves, which apparently is not unheard of.

Take a look at this posting. This guy wants $10.50 for three boxes of Tagalongs. Here is his justification for selling them: "These cookies are cookies that I purchased myself to help out the Girl Scouts. So this is my personal property. Since I cannot eat all myself I do sell all the extras I can. So this is not against any rules the Girl Scouts have in place for there [sic] girls not allowed to sell on the Internet."

No. 1: Look at the guy's profile. He also is trying to sell boxes of Do-Si-Dos, Samoas, Thin Mints, Cinna-Spins and Lemonades. Dude, buy fewer cookies. Obviously you can't eat this many by yourself unless you're trying to gain weight for an important role in a Martin Scorsese movie. There is no reason to buy this many boxes and sell the extras on e-Bay unless your MO from the beginning is to make a little cash off the Girl Scouts.

No. 2: Actually, this is against an important rule the Girl Scouts have in place. I refer to their Web site, where it explictly states: "Only Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts and Girl Scouts 11-17 may sell Girl Scout cookies." Call me crazy, but I have a sneaking suspicion this guy is not in the Brownies.

No. 3: If you genuinely overbought and just want to get back the money you spent, then sell them to a friend for the same amount you paid. No one auctions anything unless they are hoping to score at least a little more than the asking price.

I mean, what's next? Ttrick-or-treating for Unicef via Friendster? Selling Boy Scout merit badges on Craig's List?

What a world. I tell you, it's enough to make me eat three whole boxes of Do-Si-Dos. If only I knew where to buy them...

Photo Credit: Girl Scouts of America Via The Boston Herald

Girl Scouts Cut Trans Fats from Cookies

Karen Murphy — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:52:00 GMT

Following in the wake of other manufacturers who rid their products of trans fats after the FDA began requiring changes to food labels to divulge information on the substance last year, the Girl Scouts are announcing that their entire line of cookies is trans fat free. Well, almost. FDA regulations state that labels can carry the words "zero trans fats" if they have a trace or more than a trace of the artery-clogging nasty stuff. Girl Scouts cookies will carry up to half a gram of it per serving, which adds up quickly when you've consumed an entire row of Thin Mints in one sitting. Oops, maybe that's just me. Anyway, the new cookies are healthi-er, and that's an improvement. There's even a new sugar-free cookie (bleh). And they say that the taste of the new cookies hasn't been affected adversely. I'll just be the judge of that, thank you. Now gimme another box, willya?

[via That's Fit]

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