LIHU‘E — It’s that time of year again. Cookie lovers unite as Girl Scouts across the island put their business skills to test.
One might be interested to know why the yearly tradition of the great cookie sale occurs, as glasses of milk are poured and handfuls of Thin Mints or Lemon Chalet Cremes are ready to dunk.
“It’s an entire program that teaches girls about sales and how to set goals,” said Tricia Yamashita, director of Mission to Market and Kaua‘i County manager of Girl Scouts Hawai‘i. “They utilize their proceeds for community service projects that each troop gets to determine on their own.”
She said the main technique the girls get to practice is goal-setting.
“They determine a budget and set out the task of raising funds to do whatever community project they choose. We try not to focus on number of boxes, but on the business aspect of setting goals.”
Some of the programs the Girl Scout troops have decided to contribute to in the past are Kaua‘i Food Bank and Kaua‘i Humane Society, as well as various projects like painting hopscotch courts for schools and refurbishing public benches.
“Many of today’s successful entrepreneurs and businesswomen get their start selling Girl Scout Cookies. So when Hawai‘i Girl Scouts approach you with this year’s best-selling cookies, remember you’re helping to develop tomorrow’s leaders,” said Reyna Kaneko, Girl Scouts of Hawai‘i Director of Product to Market, in a written statement. “The Girl Scout Cookie Program allows girls to practice and develop useful life skills they learn in Girl Scouting with an emphasis on leadership, relevance and fun.”
According to a press release, over 250,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies were recently delivered to the islands. Tens of thousands of cases have been distributed to Hawai‘i Girl Scout Troops statewide and are available to the public through booth sales.
Yamashita said that the girls can be found at several food sale locations across the island, including Foodland in Princeville, Wal-Mart, K-mart, Kukui Grove Shopping Center and multiple Big Save locations.
She said there are 350 Girl Scouts on the island, ranging from kindergarten age to Grade 12.
“It’s impressive to watch these girls grow through the program — from planning and building customer service skills, to developing innovative sales strategies that address the challenges of an ever-changing marketplace,” said Kaneko. “Girl Scout cookies are a tradition that people look forward to.”
Kaua‘i’s girl scout troops will be at their locations every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through the month of March. To find the booth location nearest you, visit www.girlscouts-hawaii.org
• Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
