Girl Scouts Abigail and Eleanor Crettenden guard hundreds of cookie boxes in their living room. The girls are among dozens of Girl Scouts in the area who have officially kicked off cookie season in Seguin.
(Seguin) – The pandemic isn’t stopping Girl Scouts from its annual cookie sale. Now, although there are a few changes with the hosting of booths, local Girl Scout troops say they are ready to get those boxes of cookies into your hands.
Boxes upon boxes of Girl Scout cookies were unloaded last week and hand delivered to friends and family who secured their cookies through pre-order. The plan now is to reach other customers who have been waiting for this once a year treat.
Denise Crettenden, who serves as the community chair and co-community cookie manager for parts of Guadalupe and Gonzales counties, says cookie season is always an exciting time for troops. She says in preparation of cookie season during a pandemic, customers will see a few changes — changes that will keep everyone safe.
“We have a lot of wonderful businesses who let us set up booths in past years and we all know that things are a little different this year so we can’t have all the booths that we’ve had in the past. Safety is the first consideration and so, we are changing some things up this year. You won’t see girls at as many locations. You’ll see more drive-up booths. You’ll have more girls going door to door and also hanging door hangers on your door. You can have contactless delivery. So, the girls and their parents and Girl Scouts are getting creative with safe ways to get you your cookies,” said Crettenden.
Crettenden says customers, however, don’t have to wait to walk up or drive through a booth. She says they can secure their cookies online.
“You can go to the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas website, girlscouts-swtx.org and on there, you will find a place where you can enter your zip code and find cookies near you. So, that will list booths that are coming up, the times and the places and the details for those booths and there you can also put in a request to have a troop contact you. The other thing you can do is if you have any kind of question about cookies, you can give me a call and when people want to order, I just route that information to the local troops in the area,” said Crettenden.
As for those cookies, Crettenden says all your favorites have returned for another year.
“We have the same flavors we did last year and they are the same price, $4 a box. You may see on the news and other places that there’s a French toast cookie. That is not in our area but we have the same delicious ones that we are used to Thin Mints, Samoas, Do-si-dos, Tagalongs, S’mores, Trefoils, Toffee and lemon,” said Crettenden.
Not only does the customer get to sink their teeth into a great product, but the Girl Scout also benefits from each sale. Crettenden, who is also the leader of two different troops, says the cookie sale is more than just about raising money.
“It teaches these girls lots of skills including business ethics, marketing, goal setting. They learn some math along the way and they just learn what you can do when you raise money especially with service projects. They get to see that we collect cookies and we take them to the fire station or the police station or veterans or to the employees at the hospital. We ship them overseas to soldiers serving abroad so they get to see and be a part of something bigger than themselves,” said Crettenden.
Those with questions or who need to be routed to a local Girl Scout may also contact Crettenden at 830-372-1928.
The final day to get your hands on those Girl Scout cookies will be Sunday, Feb. 28.