Girl Scout Season Begins 100th Year with New Cookie, Locator Apps

Friday, Jan. 6 marks the start of the 2012 Girl Scout Cookie Program. 

Through mid-March, thousands of Girl Scouts will take orders for your favorite Girl Scout cookie varieties, including Do-Si-Dos, Dulce de Leche, Samoas^®, Tagalongs^®, Thank You Berry Munch, Thin Mints or Trefoils.

In celebration of Girl Scouts’ 100^th anniversary in 2012, a new Girl Scout Cookie is making its debut: Savannah Smiles, named after the Georgia city in which Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts in 1912. Savannah Smiles is a lemon-flavored cookie dusted in powdered sugar that is sure to become a fast favorite. 

Girl Scouts in west central Florida will take pre-orders Jan. 6 to 27, to be delivered beginning Feb. 16. 

Friday, Feb. 24 marks the start of booth sales, so keep an eye out at your favorite businesses and stores and take a box — or a dozen — home with you.

Also beginning Feb. 24, visit www.gswcf.org and search for a Girl Scout Cookie Booth by zip code using the cookie booth locater system. Cookie fans with smart phones can download the free Girl Scout Cookie Locator (Kellogg) app by calling **GSCOOKIES  (**472665437) from their phones, or by searching for “Cookie Locator” in the iPhone App Store or Android Market Place. 

Cookie booth sales end Sunday, March 18. 

For those who want to support Girl Scouting in their communities but don’t want to enjoy the cookies themselves, GSWCF offers the Cookies from Home Program. This unique program is a way for Girl Scouts to give back to their communities: donations of cookies through the Cookies from Home Program will be sent directly to our military troops serving in combat zones overseas through a partnership with Support Our Troops. Donations to the Cookies from Home Program may be made in person through a Girl Scout at anytime during the Cookie Program, through March 18.

Girl Scout Cookies are not only an icon of American culture, but also the world’s leading entrepreneurial program for girls. Through the program, girls practice useful life skills such as planning, decision-making and customer service. During cookie activities, girls are members of a team working toward a common goal, with each girl striving to do her personal best.

For more information regarding purchasing Girl Scout Cookies and supporting Girl Scouting in your area, visit www.gswcf.org/cookies, or call (800) 881-4475, ext. 1838. 

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of West Central Florida (GSWCF) serves nearly 22,000 girls and 11,000 adult members in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter counties. GSWCF receives funding from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and area United Way agencies. Did you know that more than 53% of all women business owners are Girl Scout alumnae? For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts of West Central Florida, visit www.gswcf.org or call 800-881-4475.

Editor's note: This is a press release submitted from the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.