It’s that time again. Time for local Girl Scouts to pick up their clip-boards and brush up on their sales skills. Girl Scout cookie pre-orders start on Friday, and local scouts have big plans for their cookie money.

Sixty cents of every $4 box of Girl Scout cookies goes directly to the troop that made the sale. Members of each troop get together and set troop sales goals. What each troop does with their cookie money is up to the members. They might, for example, choose to attend a Girl Scouts summer camp, go horseback riding, or purchase troop supplies. The Senior Girl Scouts of Troop #3180 in Turlock are going to Paris, France.

“For the last three years they have put their cookie money towards this trip,” said Julie Davis, service unit manager for Three Rivers Service Unit.

Davis, who oversees troops in Turlock, Hughson, Hilmar and Stevinson, said the Paris trip was only partially funded by cookie sales. But the trip gave high school aged members of Troop 3180 the motivation they needed to set high sales goals.

Cookie sales help girls learn goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics, according to the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California. Each troop has a pre-sale meeting to discuss proper sales etiquette, safety, and sales goals. They will start taking orders on Friday, and will deliver the cookies in one “mega drop” on or around Feb. 20. The average sales for each local Girl Scout are 165 boxes. There are 52 troops in the area, with a total of just under 400 girls. That adds up to a lot of cookies.

“After pre-orders are over we start cookie shops in front of grocery stores and will do that for the next four weekends. It’s going to be a busy time for us,” Davis said.

Anyone can pre-order cookies directly from a Girl Scout. Their newest cookie, called the Savannah Smile, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first Girl Scout troop. The cookies were available during fall sales in some areas.  Girl Scout cookies are made and distributed by two separate bakeries, and some flavors are regional.  Samoa cookies, for example, are labeled “Caramel deLites” in certain parts of the country.

The website girlscoutcookies.org can help cookie cravers find their nearest cookie seller. The application has a countdown to the beginning of cookie season in Turlock. Buying cookies directly from Girl Scout members through pre-orders helps them reach troop and personal sales goals. Girls who sell 2,500 boxes or more can win an iPad this year.

One year there were four local girls who reached the top sales goal. Davis said there are smaller incentives, like “cookie credits,” for girls who meet lower sales levels. 

“They can use cookie credits for Girl Scout products. This can really help them with the cost of uniforms, books, or other materials,” Davis said.

To contact Andrea Goodwin, e-mail agoodwin@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2003.