GS Troops visit police stations, fire houses to share Cookies with police officers, firefighters on National Girl Scout Cookie Day

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri (GSEM) Troops visited fire departments and police stations throughout the St. Louis area, enjoying "Milk and Cookies" with police officers and fire fighters in honor of the first National Girl Scout Cookie Day, Friday, Feb. 8. In addition, Girl Scouts were stationed at a cookie booth outside the James S. McDonnell USO at Lambert St. Louis International Airport with all cookie orders placed being donated to US military personnel.

            At a firehouse in the Mehlville Fire Protection District, approximately 12 to 15 girls greeted the fire fighters. They served cookies to the men and women and passed around order forms. The new Mango Crème cookies proved popular with the firefighters along with many of the other varieties.

            The girls came from Brownie Troop 223 and Senior Troop 135.  The troops’ goal is to use the funds from selling cookies to buy camping supplies. They want to camp at all three Girl Scout sites this year – Cedarledge, Fiddlecreek and Tuckaho. Troop leaders mentioned purchasing new sashes and vests, too.

            One of the girls, Allison McCallister, has already sold at least 639 boxes of cookies since Cookie GO Day on January 12.

            “I have a huge family,” she said of her sales strategy. “I have people take the order forms to work.” She said she also sold boxes at her school and at her church. Her original goal was to sell enough boxes to earn a messenger bag but she surpassed that by more than 200 boxes. Her troop leader said McCallister has already doubled the number of boxes she sold in 2012.

            The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led enterprise in the country, engaging girls with five skills they will use throughout their lives-goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. Many successful women leaders say that their first entrepreneurial experience came from selling Girl Scout Cookies.