5000 boxes of cookies to sell PTR

[Sephrina]

If I survied the first three weeks of March, I am going with my daughter's GS troop to Disneyland and Universal Studios....but first I have to survive one last girl scout cookie selling season with the highest goal her troop has ever had. 5000 boxes of cookies with ensure the trip is entirely paid for, except for soveniers.

Cookie season started for DD and I last Saturday with the delivery of the cookies for our local service unit, 3000+ cases. After a missing pallet of tagalongs, a few missing thin mints, my dd showing her leadership skills and keeping the volunteers (mostly high school boys) moving efficiently, and about 40 troops picking up cookies we survived the first days.

Currently, we are down to 4060 boxes left to sell, so we will be spending the next three weekends peddling girl scout cookies. Hopefully, we won't be freezing the entire time.

March 27th we leave. There will be 11 of us in the group, 7 girls and 4 adults, with the girls ranging in age from 14 to 18. We have two rooms at the BWPPI. Six women getting ready in the same room is already giving me nightmares.

More to come later....I need to get deposits, and cash boxes ready, and enough sleep to prepare me for another long weekend. I'll be looking forward to returning to work on Monday....I'll need the rest

 

[WA Kay]

Good luck on the cookie sales. It has been 30 years since I was in or involved with Girl Scouts but the memories of cookies sales are still very fresh in my mind.

Because I know what a royal pain it is I am a very large supporter of the people involved. I was never so happy as when the Girl Scouts started the "Buy cookies for ours Soldiers" campaign. Before that I would gain 10 pounds every year because I couldn't say no to buying or eating them. Now I can buy and leave them.

Again good luck with sales and your trip.

 

[Sephrina]

DD insisted I post an update...we survived the first weekend of cookie booth sales. Spent three hours Friday night, about 10 on Saturday, with a couple breaks to go pick up more cookies, and a few minutes to change out the cash box before switching locations, and a few hours on Sunday with another trip for more cookies and a location snafu.

If we sell everything we currently have, we will be just shy of of halfway there. It will be tough to sell the other half, so it looks like we will be paying for our own meals, but the girls have worked hard to earn as much as they have.

We have a Disney party planned for tomorrow night, to get more in the spirit. Disney games and Disney karoke are in the works. It will be a nice break from cookie sales.

Around 2800 boxes of cookies left to sell

 

[PirateFish989]

Oh I remember the days of selling GS cookies! My last year of being a Girl Scout, I sold 901 boxes (this was back when we took orders for two weeks and then about a month later they were all delivered), which paid for a big chunk of our Girl Scout Disneyland trip (there were only 4 of us, plus my mom and her co-leader going).

On another note, you're almost half way to your goal!

 

[stacieps]

That is a LOT of cookies!! My troop is also selling to support a Disney trip, but we only needed to sell 1700 boxes to meet our goal (we only have about 200 boxes left and will be having booth sales this weekend, so should be done). We are in New Hampshire, so we've been freezing for booths (all outside); I'm very excited that the forecast for this Saturday is 45 degrees - much warmer than we've had for our previous booths.

We are heading to Disney World in August - we booked the end of summer with the free dining plan, so we're saving a bunch of money on food.

Good luck!

 

[ORDisneyfans]

Found your post and had to reply! I feel your pain my DD 13 has sold 1000 boxes the last 4 years! She has been joined by her sister who is 8 the last two years! This year our troops sold 4400 boxes mostly by 5 girls! We went on a GS trip to Disneyland two summers ago! It was a blast, we even flew thanks to the Alaska Air Kids Fly Free to Disney special.

Hang in there! The girls will never forget this experience! My girls can count back change better than any clerk!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Found your post and had to reply! I feel your pain my DD 13 has sold 1000 boxes the last 4 years! She has been joined by her sister who is 8 the last two years! This year our troops sold 4400 boxes mostly by 5 girls! We went on a GS trip to Disneyland two summers ago! It was a blast, we even flew thanks to the Alaska Air Kids Fly Free to Disney special.

Hang in there! The girls will never forget this experience! My girls can count back change better than any clerk!

No joke the girl scouts here in Mt are way better than the adults I supervised!
When the cash register broke down they were unable to handle change even with an adding machine! Counting change a lost art!

 

[Sephrina]

The Disney party on Tuesday was a hit. The girls showed a lot of creativity with their shirts. Me, I drew a blank and will have to work on one later.

Our sales didn't go as well as we had hoped this weekend...the second weekend is always slow, but with one leader out of town, another at work, and my car full of cookies we weren't able to get our signs out as early as I would have liked for our Saturday sale. Once they were up business picked up, but we had already lost about half the alotted time.

Once we sell all the cookies in my car, we will have sold just under 2800 boxes. We should be able to do at least that much. It will leave us a little under our goal, so the girls will probably need to chip in about $100 each for the trip. Disney for $100/person....wish I could get away with my June trip being that cheap.

This week we will finish up cookie sales, and hopefully finalize all plans. I'm waiting to hear from one last girl so I can order our WOC picnics as we don't want to worry about getting everyone up and over to the park to obtain fast passes. We have to eat anyway, so why not take advantage.

Time is flying by...this time in two weeks we will be at the park and my daughter's last girl scout cookie selling season (at least as a girl) will be over.

 

[Sephrina]

! My girls can count back change better than any clerk!

Most of my girls can too...especially my daughter. One of her leaders over the years pretty much banned the calculator and we taught them to count change. She is the only girl left from that troop, but we brought that tradition with us and I don't bring calculators either. When she started learning our cookie prices were $3.18, and they went up to $3.71 (ID taxes food). The past two years, the council included the tax in the price and set it at $3.75, making the change counting a lot easier.

It's been great to watch the girls grow...the only reason they even need the leaders at any of their booths is the need for an actual adult. My daughter doesn't even want me talking to customers if one of the girls can do it. I'm allowed to stock the table, except when she catches me making sure I'm showing both sides of the boxes and they are all facing the right way.

 

[Mabel67]

Do the people buying the cookies know that they are helping to finance a holiday for your teenage girls and their moms? Just wondering.
When I was a browinie/girl guide we sold cookies, too, but the money went to initiatives within the community, not for holidays to Disneyland. Does your troop do other fundraising activities to support their community?
Has the premise of scouting/guiding changed so much over the years?

 

[WA Kay]

Do the people buying the cookies know that they are helping to finance a holiday for your teenage girls and their moms? Just wondering.
When I was a browinie/girl guide we sold cookies, too, but the money went to initiatives within the community, not for holidays to Disneyland. Does your troop do other fundraising activities to support their community?
Has the premise of scouting/guiding changed so much over the years?

Approximately 70% of the proceeds stays in the local Girl Scout council to provide a portion of the resources needed to support Girl Scouting in that area, including the portion that goes directly to the group selling the cookies which is typically 10-20 %.

The short answer is no. Cookie money was never intended to be a community fund raiser. It supports Girls Scouting directly.

Typically troops use there money for some sort of camping/travel event. It was, in my youth, often the only time girls got to do anything special during the year. I come from a poor working class area. Living in Washington our yearly trip was a week at Camp River Ranch.

Our troop, and many around us, did do a great deal of "community volunteering" through out the year.

Although I can't say for sure if there were any troops who chose to give their money to charity I do know that it was and is not the intent for the money.

This information is also on the Girl Scout web site.

Follow Up:
I think this may have sounded defensive or snarky and I apologize. I did not intend to sound that way. My entire family was in Scouting for about 20 years so it is in my blood.

 

[Mabel67]

Thank you for your reply, Kay... Perhaps my confusion stems from comparing the US Scouting to the Canadian Guiding. Or maybe the troops I was in had their own philosophy different from others. I appreciate your response.

 

[Sephrina]

I would like to add, the girls have been straightforward about what they are earning money for.

The girls chose this trip (mostly...after international travel was shot down and a leader dictated decision that WDW would be too expensive in our timeline). They have been involved in the planning, including the equipment list (my daughter created it...fortunately it was proofread or everyone may not have packed socks) and the rules which included some to remind us adults that they aren't little girls anymore.

This trip will be the first opportunity for one girl to visit DL and the first opportunity for another to ride in a plane.

The troop does do some community service, which is another part of scouting, just not the direct focus of the cookie program.

I do understand your concern about the trip seeming to be a holiday...I have even seen that attitude in regards to other trips (a cruise) girls have taken from leaders. Depending on how it is handled, a trip like this can be quite a learning experience for the girls.

Kay...did you ever go to camp Robinswald (I think I have the name right). I got to go a couple of times growing up

 

[WA Kay]

Kay...did you ever go to camp Robinswald (I think I have the name right). I got to go a couple of times growing up

No. It was always Camp River Ranch. I was just asking my Dad, who was made and honorary Girl Scout, why and he said it was closer for us.

I am not even sure what other camps were around at the time because I was there between 1970 - 1975. Dating myself for sure.

 

[EeyoreGirl92]

I am extremly glad to say that this is the last weekend for cookies sales. Although I am sad that this is my last time selling cookies just for me. However, with the end of cookies sales it means on 1 week until I am in Disneyland having a great time! We haven't reached our goal of 5000 boxes and unless we can sell 2000 boxes this weekend we won't. But all that we have earned has helped us out greatly. We would not have been able to do the trip with out the cookie sale.

I knew there was some reason I was stressing myself out with all these cookie booth sales.

 

[WA Kay]

I am extremly glad to say that this is the last weekend for cookies sales. Although I am sad that this is my last time selling cookies just for me. However, with the end of cookies sales it means on 1 week until I am in Disneyland having a great time! We haven't reached our goal of 5000 boxes and unless we can sell 2000 boxes this weekend we won't. But all that we have earned has helped us out greatly. We would not have been able to do the trip with out the cookie sale.

I knew there was some reason I was stressing myself out with all these cookie booth sales.

Congratulations and welcome to the DISBoards.

Based on your location I am assuming that you are Sephrina's daughter? I hope you and all the girls have a successful weekend selling cookies and a great time at Disneyland. As a former Girl Scout of 20 years.... I know you have earned it!

 

[Sephrina]

Yes, she is my daughter, she finally quit lurking and got her own id.

The weather wasn't cooperating with us today, so we had to pack up early, leaving me with a trunk full of cookies. Hopefully, one last sale tonight will take care of the majority. Once those are gone, it looks like we may have enough to cover our food, if we eat as cheap as we can, so even though we didn't make the goal of 5000, we won't be asking the families to pay much. The girls' hard work over the past years has paid off for them.

Our pins for trading have arrived and my daughter is making luggage tags for everyone with the mickey paint chips from Home Depot.

 

[EeyoreGirl92]

Cookie sales are done and we leave for disneyland on Sunday! We managed to sell 3000 boxes, which is 2000 less then our goal. I am proud of all the girls and the hard work they put into selling all the cookies. I can't wait to get there!!!!

 

[WA Kay]

3,000 boxes is amazing and a reason to be proud. Congratulations. Have a great trip and don't forget to start up your very own trip report when you get back. I would love to have your perspective on the trip.

 

[BellaBaby]

Yes, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

My DD9 has been in scouting for 3 yrs and we just got done recently selling cookies as well. Her troop usually does really well. Maybe when they are older she will have a chance at DL or WDW. The girls and their parents work really hard at this and deserve the rewards. They do community service also.

Anyway, I know you'll have an awesome trip!!

Can't wait to hear how it goes!!