Sales of Girl Scout Cookies in Maine will begin Feb. 1.
Girl Scouts of Maine will kick off the 2021 Girl Scout Cookie season on Monday, Feb. 1. During this challenging time, many Girl Scouts are selling in creative, socially distant, and contact-free ways to keep themselves and their customers safe. Even in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, girls are adapting their sales methods to share the joy of Girl Scout Cookies through the largest girl-led entrepreneurship program. Additionally, online cookie ordering is available so consumers may purchase cookies for their favorite Scouts to deliver in April or for direct shipment, with an extra charge, to their homes.
The Girl Scouts of Maine have a new cookie this year, the toast-yay!
New cookie this year
This year, Girl Scouts of Maine introduces its newest cookie, toast-yay! The toast-yay! is a French toast-inspired cookie dipped in delicious icing and full of flavor. This cookie will be available along with the old favorites, Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Lemonades, Shortbread (the original Girl Scout cookie), and Girl Scout S’mores. The cost is $5 per package.
Innovative girl-led sales methods
The Girl Scout Cookie Program has long taught girls how to run a business via in-person booths, door-to-door activity, and the Digital Cookie platform online, which was launched in 2014. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the middle of the 2020 season and girls were faced with the same challenges as other small businesses, they quickly pivoted their sales methods.
From running virtual cookie booths on social media to setting up drive-thru locations to facilitating orders that ship directly to customers’ doors, girls as young as 5 years old are continuing to embrace their entrepreneurial spirits, stay connected to their communities, and have fun by participating in the cookie program. And the proceeds from each and every purchase stay local with the troop and its council to power Girl Scouts’ essential leadership programming.
“We’re proud of the resourceful ways Girl Scouts are running their cookie businesses safely and using their earnings to make the world a better place,” said interim Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Judith Batty. “This season, our girls will continue to exemplify what the cookie program taught them — how to think like entrepreneurs, use innovative sales tactics, and pivot to new ways of doing business when things don’t go according to plan. The cookie program is what keeps Girl Scouts thriving in communities across the country and is proven to build girls’ leadership skills and help them become successful in life.”
How to safely purchase cookies
Consumers can support local Girl Scouts by purchasing cookies in a few different ways:
Consumers who know a registered Girl Scout can reach out to her to find out how she is selling cookies in ways that meet local and state safety protocols.
Those who do not know a Girl Scout can contact Midcoast Service Unit Cookie Supervisor Laurie McBurnie at lmcb293@gmail.com.
