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Girl Scouts of Central Texas saw a slight drop in cookie sales and members in 2021

Because of the abrupt impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Girl Scouts had to make a handful of changes to how they went about selling cookies this past year.

TEXAS, USA — There are reportedly 15 million boxes of unsold Girl Scouts cookies untouched and unsold. If September comes and these cookies aren’t sold, they will risk expiration and be thrown away.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a lot to do with the numbers in Girl Scout cookie profits diminishing. The resource development executive of Girl Scouts of Central Texas Donna Brosh said Girl Scouts across the country had to drastically adjust how they sold cookies this past year.

“While the girls would usually have a station outside of a store like Wal-Mart, Kroger, or Maurice’s, scouts had to lean away from that because of COVID and do things like drive-thru sales and the girls really enjoyed it. Sometimes during difficult times you learn new ways to do things and that’s what made it fun for the girls,” Brosh said.

She also mentioned the Girl Scouts Council in Austin was under a much stricter lockdown, causing that area to suffer more than San Angelo.

The organization won't reveal the figures on how much of a financial hit the Girl Scouts suffered, but this still hasn't been the biggest hit the cookie program has ever faced. That likely came during World War II, when the Girl Scouts were forced to shift from selling cookies to calendars because of wartime shortages of sugar, butter and flour.

Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. has been around for 109 years and the founder, Juliette Gordon Low, had a vision to prepare girls to meet their world with courage, confidence and character. Having the in-person interaction with Girl Scouts is something that couldn’t happen because of COVID-19. 

Another thing suffering from a shortage is the amount of new members within the past year. Without members, there are no Girl Scouts.

“We had fewer girls selling cookies this year and saw a decrease in Girl Scouts membership. A lot of that has to do with the girls wanting that friend to friend in person contact and that wasn’t happening for a very long time. We are now having in person troop meetings and congregating together again so that’s great,” Brosh said.

Brosh is extremely grateful for the support the San Angelo community has shown and she hopes it will continue once the Girl Scouts cookie season begins again.

“We are still in need for our community to support us financially because regardless, we are continuing to provide programs to the girls. We have done so much through virtual learning and what comes with that is sending workbooks and information to the girls and it takes a lot of money to ship  these materials.” Brosh said.

Girl Scouts everywhere are optimistic about having a successful cookie season in 2022. 

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