Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is celebrating a successful cookie season. From Jan. 17 to Feb. 27, participating Girl Scouts across central and northern Arizona sold more than 2.6 million boxes of delicious cookies, building essential entrepreneurial skills imperative to leadership and future success along the way.
“Our 2022 Girl Scout Cookie season was the most memorable one yet. Despite selling during a pandemic and experiencing inventory shortages, our girls were confident and innovative as they engaged with customers across central and northern Arizona. We celebrate their entrepreneurial spirit and are grateful for the generous support from the community,” shared Christina Spicer, Interim Co-CEO of GSACPC.
READ ALSO: Valley chefs get creative with cookies to support Girl Scouts
The funds raised through the cookie program will allow local girls to take part in a variety of programs, community outreach projects and enrichment over the next year, including:
• Fueling adventure by maintaining four camp facilities and outdoor programming year-round, including the NEW boulder wall, zip line and climbing tower at The Parsons Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain
• Providing STEM, outdoor, life-skills, and entrepreneurial programs for Girl Scouts to participate in in central and northern Arizona, including providing access to programs for girls residing in the Navajo Nation and Hopi Lands
• Volunteer training and support for over 6,000 volunteers
• Financial assistance to cover membership, uniforms, and camperships for any family needing extra support.
• Supporting girls’ passions, take-action project, and pursuit of the Girl Scout High Awards through service projects that make an impact on our community
The Girl Scout Cookie Program not only helps Girl Scouts earn money for these fun, educational activities and community projects, but also plays an important role in helping girls learn essential life skills like decision making, money management, people skills, business ethics and goal setting. It is the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world! All proceeds from the cookie program support Arizona’s Girl Scouts.
How the cookies crumbled, by the numbers:
• 7,063 girls in central and northern Arizona sold 2,686,833 cookies
• The per girl average was 380 boxes each, up from 320 boxes each in 2021
• The top cookie seller, Kaitlyn of Troop 2232 in Glendale, sold 7,788 boxes of cookies
• The top troop, Troop 558 in Peoria, sold 64,886 boxes of cookies
• 113 girls sold over 2,000 boxes each
• 843,710 packages were sold online through its Digital Cookie program
• The most popular cookie sold was Girl Scout Thin Mints
• In its first year, 247,456 boxes of Adventurefuls found their way to local homes
• Girl Scouts hosted hundreds of booths thanks to restaurant and retail supporters, and long-term partners like Fry’s Food Stores, Bashas’ Family of Stores (Bashas’, Food City, A.J.’s), and Safeway
In other sweet news, 19 restaurants participated in the 8th annual Girl Scout Cookie Dessert Challenge. The Dessert Challenge invites chefs from some of the state’s most popular restaurants to support Arizona’s girls by creating a special dessert using one of the beloved flavors of Girl Scout Cookies. A public voting component was introduced last year, allowing diners to vote for their favorite dessert! With 22% of the votes in the central Arizona area, Nook Kitchen and chef Amber Cumming took the title for best dessert with their Don’t Mind if I Do using Girl Scout Do-si-dos. In the northern Arizona region, Shift won with 37.5% of the votes for their Mint Chocolate Churros created by chef Dara Wong featuring Girl Scout Thin Mints. A portion of the proceeds from each dessert sold was donated to support Girl Scouting in our community.
The season also marked the first-ever Girl Scout night during a Phoenix Suns game at the Footprint Arena and Bring Home the Cookies 5K Run and Walk, which took place on Feb. 26 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The family friendly event, open to Girl Scout families, competitive runners and the community at large, featured music, food and even a Girl Scout business or two. In total, more than 400 girls and their families took part with the community in this special event day-of.
The overwhelming success of this year’s cookie program was possible only with the support of the community. All funds raised stay in Arizona, ensuring girls will have the resources they need to develop into tomorrow’s leaders.
