Local Girl Scouts Face Cookie Surplus, with Sales Down 30% - Cookies Donated to Friends Of The Troops
Girl Scout cookie season would normally be over, but the pandemic handed Scouts in our area a huge surplus.
Wednesday, April 28th 2021, 7:40 AM EDT
Girl Scout cookie season would normally be over, but the pandemic handed Scouts in our area a huge surplus. Sales are down 30%, leaving 100,000 boxes unsold in East Tennessee.
"People love Girl Scout cookies, they really do,” Cindee McBride, Tennessee Valley/North Georgia regional director with Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians, said.
Even the region’s collective sweet tooth couldn’t keep up with the pandemic. McBride says troops made huge changes this year, leaning on digital sales and delivery, while traditional booths struggled.
"People are not out and about as much as they were, so we are not seeing the sales like we have in the past,” she said.
With sales down 30%, Scouts have one big problem. They normally expect to have a few thousand boxes left, but this year there are 100,000, enough to cross the Walnut Street Bridge 255 times.
If they don't sell the surplus, they may have to give up some of their programs and outreach this year.
"They help fund the girls' activities. They cover about $300 of the $500 the girls need for all of their programs and activities for the year,” McBride said.
In a last-ditch effort, Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians is hosting a final cookie sale Saturday, May 1st. People can stock up for themselves, or buy a box to be donated to Friends of the Troops, where the unsold cookies will also go.
"What we don't sell, we will donate. We are just going to let them go to waste,” McBride said.
At $4 a box, it's a little way to make the year sweeter for the Scouts. Saturday's sale is your last chance to get the goods.
It will be at Second Missionary Baptist Church at 2305 East 3rd Street in Chattanooga from 10 AM to 6 PM. The Scouts are taking measures to make the sale drive-through and contact-free.