For Antigo Times

As predictable as a January cold snap, the Girl Scout Cookie Program returns to northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan beginning Friday, January 23, 2015. This year’s Girl Scout Cookie Program will run through April 3 with door-to-door sales in January and February, and troops hosting cookie booths with product on hand beginning March 5.

By now the Girl Scout Cookie program is firmly entrenched not just as a cookie sale but as a program delivering financial literacy and leadership skills to Girl Scouts as young as kindergarten and through their senior year in high school. The Cookie Program remains the premiere fundraiser for the 104 year old organization. When girls participate they develop essential business skills such as decision making, goal setting, money management, business ethics and people skills. All profits from the Cookie Program stay local; the girls receive a percentage based on how much they’ve sold, and the remainder goes to the local Girl Scout Council, which helps fund Girl Scout programming and services. Girl Scout programming includes opportunities like camp, travel arts and science programming, local events and more.

The Digital Cookie online platform tool returns. Launched last year, this tool allows girls to sell cookies to friends and family across the country, however the bulk of the sales are expected to continue to be from door-to-door and face-to-face interactions with the girls as the program  encourages.

While there are no new cookies being introduced this year there is a new price. This year customers can expect to pay $4.00 per box, an increase of .50 cents per box from last year. “We’ve seen a continual rise in our costs to deliver the Girl Scout Cookie Program. After seven years we felt that it was time to make a modest increase to offset these additional costs and enable our girls and Troops to remain profitable,” says Lee Snodgrass, Communications Director of the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes. “We try to remind people that when you buy cookies from a Girl Scout, you are not just buying a treat; you are investing in a girl’s future. Think of it as a donation to Girl Scouts where we thank you with a box of cookies,” Snodgrass continues.

All of the favorites are returning this year including the gluten free Trio introduced last year during the cookie booth portion of the sale. Those not in touch with a Girl Scout may contact the Cookie Hotline at 800.246.4171 or visit www.girlscoutcookies.org to find cookies near you.

ABOUT GSNWGL

A global network of 3.2 million girls and adults, Girl Scouts believes that with courage, confidence, and character, we can change the world. For over a century, we have empowered girls in your community to discover their passions and take on real-world challenges in a supportive all-girl environment. GSNWGL brings together nearly 6,000 volunteers and more than 16,000 girls for unique, fun and challenging experiences in business, science, the outdoors, the arts and everything in between. Learn more about Girl Scouting in our community at www.gsnwgl.org. GSNWGL is a United Way partner program.