As Girl Scouts everywhere celebrated 100 years of selling cookies, Girl Scouts—Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is celebrating their very successful cookie sale.
• 13,278 girls sold three million boxes of cookies in nine weeks. That’s an average of 219 boxes for each girl.
• The top cookie seller sold 4016 boxes of cookies.
• 158,432 cookies were sold online through the Digital Cookie program, the second year girls could market their cookies to friends and family via a website they created, thus allowing girls to learn ecommerce business skills.
• The most popular cookie? Thin Mints of course! 34% of sales went to this cookie, followed closely by Samoas (21%)
Girl Scout Cookies not only helps Girl Scouts earn money for fun, educational activities and community projects, but also plays an important role helping girls learn essential life skills like decision making, money management, people skills, business ethics and goal setting. It is the largest girl-led business in the world!
In other sweet news, the numbers are in for the Cookie Dessert Challenge! And the winners are….The Henry, with their delicious Samoa Doughnuts and Churn, with its Savannah Smiles ice cream.
More than two dozen restaurants participated in the 4th Annual Cookie Dessert Challenge, which invited chefs from some of the state’s most popular restaurants to support Arizona’s girls by created a special dessert using one of the beloved flavors of Girl Scout cookies. A portion of the proceeds from each dessert sold was donated to Girl Scouts to support Girl Scouting in our community.
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 our girl members will have the resources they need to develop into tomorrow’s leaders.
“In fact, our Girl Scouts used a portion of their cookie sale proceeds in the last few years to help fund our newly opened campus, The Bob & Renee Parsons Leadership Center for Girls & Women at Camp South Mountain,” said Tamara Woodbury, CEO of GSACPC.
This $18 million year-round urban program center with camp appeal is located on 14.5 acres in the South Mountain community at 1611 E. Dobbins Road in Phoenix, and increases the local council’s capacity to serve more girls with relevant programming, from aquatics to STEM, all year long.
“We are also grateful for the many donors who have invested in this project to date, particularly The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation whose support has been instrumental in making this project a reality. Their $5 million donation – in fact – is the largest in the 105-year history of Girl Scouts of the USA,” said Christina Spicer, Senior Associate of Fund Development at GSACPC
Other notable gifts include those from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, and the Emerald Foundation, who provided the first gift to ensure the campus would be ADA accessible.
The Parsons Leadership Center offers spaces for large and small meetings and trainings, tent and cabin camping, a demonstration kitchen and kitchen garden, two pools, a Girl Scout museum and shop, staff offices, a playing field and archery range, campfire circle, and labyrinths. Adult leaders and volunteers will also benefit from the leadership and skill-building training offered at the center, and the local council sees it helping to facilitate partnerships with surrounding community groups, local organizations and schools.
“Bob and I are passionate about giving support to organizations making a lasting difference in the community, and that’s what the Girls Scouts are doing here,” said businesswoman and philanthropist, Renee Parsons. “The lessons these young girls are learning will empower them to grow into confident women and future leaders.”
