Have you bought Girl Scout cookies yet? I’m a Daisy troop leader and my girls are super excited. Their uniforms are pressed with badges in place, and they’ve worked hard to master multiples of four, because with the exception of the gluten-free Toffee-tastic, cookies sell for $4 a box.
This is the first year Girl Scouts have offered online ordering through Digital Cookie and they’re taking a lot of flak. A famous blogger named Jenny Lawson, aka “The Bloggess,” penned an open letter to Girl Scouts where she slammed them for the shipping charges ($11.95 for the first 1 to 6 boxes.) Since Lawson is also a NYT bestselling author and has a massive Twitter following, this is a very big deal.
Personally, I think the way Lawson went about this is shameful. She could have brought her issues to her service unit, her council, or national headquarters first and given Girl Scouts a chance to address her concerns before blasting them on social media.
The first part of the Girl Scout Promise says this: “I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and carrying, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do.”
We teach our kids to solve problems face to face instead of online, so why is it OK for a semi-celebrity to bash Girl Scouts on her blog?
Now about those shipping charges. There are three primary ways customers can purchase cookies: 1. Until Feb. 22 you can pre-order cookies on the traditional form a Girl Scout near you carries. 2. Starting Feb. 27 you can purchase cookies at a local booth sale. 3. You can order from Digital Cookie where you will incur shipping charges. Yes, option No. 3 is more expensive but it gives grandmas in Ohio a chance to support troops out of their area.
My Daisies will make 55 cents for every box we sell. We’re using this money to pay for patches, go on field trips and possibly bring The Bunny Lady to a meeting. The rest of the revenue stays with the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. This will provide critical funds for a variety of things, including maintaining camps. Anyone who has been to Camp Robbinswold, Camp River Ranch, Camp Lyle McLeod or one of the other properties can attest to their beauty.
For me, camping is at the heart of Girl Scouts. Troop camping, core camping, day camping — I’ve done it all, but the summer I spent working at Camp Joe Scherman in California changed my life because it introduced me to teaching. My camp name was “Willow” and I was the nature director. Teaching girls science — away from the pressures of boys — was an honor. At Camp Scherman I made lifelong friends. Rocko, the rock-climbing instructor, went on to become the camp director at Robbinswold.
All of that was possible because of cookie sales.
So, you see? What Jenny Lawson doesn’t understand is that to many of us, Thin Mints are sacred wafers.
Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two. Find her on Twitter at @jennbardsley.
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