NORTHERN CALIFORNIA –  Until March 16, Girl Scouts will be making their way door-to-door and be set up outside businesses in your communities to offer eight of your favorites for $5 a box: Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Dulce de Leche, Trefoils, Do-Si-Dos, Thank U Berry Munch and Savannah Smiles.

New this year: customers who buy five or more boxes can enter a drawing for a chance to win five cases of Girl Scout Cookies and get a free reusable shopping bag designed by Girl Scouts, while supplies last.

It’s easier than ever to get your Girl Scout cookies with our convenient Online Cookie Locator at www.iLoveCookies.org , the free Cookie Mobile App, and secure credit and debit card sales at some locations.

• They will accept secure debit/credit cards on cookie purchases – yet another way that Girl Scouts is embracing technology and real-world skills as teachable moments for girls.
• The Online Cookie Locator at www.iLoveCookies.org allows you to find cookies near you. Download and then navigate your way by date, distance, and more to nearby cookie booths, and even get email alerts when cookies are close to you! Users can download through the  iPhone app store or Android marketplace.

There’s more to Girl Scout Cookies than what’s in the box. When a girl sells you cookies, she’s creating a plan, interacting with customers, and working as part of a team. She’s building a lifetime of skills and confidence.

Girls earn while they learn five key skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.

Everyone knows Girl Scout Cookies taste good, but they do good too, providing funds for service projects, learning programs, and fees for camps and memberships. All funds from the sale of Girl Scout cookies remain here in our local council, minus our baker’s fees. And when you buy Girl Scout cookies, girls decide where the money goes.

All of the cookie varieties have 0 grams trans fat per serving and have no high fructose corn syrup, seven varieties have no artificial colors, and five varieties contain no hydrogenated oils. With the Gift of Caring program, customers can purchase boxes and have them donated to the military for troops overseas or to a local food banks.

Proceeds from Girl Scout Cookies help the girls you are buying from pay for activities and community service projects in your community, plus:

• One box – could provide a college 101 handbook for a teen girl in a detention center.
• Two boxes – could cover the cost of a one gallon tree that girls plant in an urban park.
• Five boxes – could pay for a year’s membership dues for a girl who can’t afford it.
• 12 boxes (one case) – could allow us to do background screening for five volunteers.