Dancing the Do Si Do: Girl Scouts navigate cookie delay
Courtesy of Linda Brison
Daisy and Brownie scouts, led by Linda Brison, complete a service project in Washington Park. Most of the Girl Scouts’ activities are funded through the annual cookie sale.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Linda Brison's Girl Scout travel troop was forced to postpone a trip to Orlando, Fla. Last year, the girls headed south, where they swam with dolphins at Discovery Cove.
Junior Girl Scout Troop 53563 visited Wild World of Animals in Eighty Four last year. Activities like this are funded primarily through the annual cookie sale.
Troop 52629, led by Muriel Nuttall, plants a pollinator garden in Brownsville last year. The troop put its 2021 cookie sale funds toward completion of its Silver Award.
Birds, bees and butterflies flit happily from flower to flower in this Brownsville garden, constructed last year by Girl Scout Troop 52629. The troop, led by Muriel Nuttall, is hoping to raise enough cookie money this year to complete its Gold Award.
Folks eager to dive into boxes of Thin Mints and Do Si Dos may have to postpone their annual Girl Scout cookie splurge as the national organization struggles to fill orders.
One of the Girl Scouts’ biggest fundraisers of the year – the cookie sale – is yet another victim of pandemic-related supply chain issues. The organization’s cookie manufacturer is navigating shortages as it works to stuff Tagalongs and Samoas into colorful boxes.
“Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania was informed by our baker, Little Brownie Bakers, that they are experiencing production delays that impact the delivery of cookies in our council and their partner councils across the nation,” Karen Burchill, director of marketing and communications for GSWP, wrote in an email.
“We have received some of our inventory, and shipments from the baker continue to arrive.”
Deliveries have arrived to local warehouses, but area troops haven’t received any cookies.
“Some troop leaders are upset because the cookie cupboards have most of their cookies. We still haven’t received our cookie orders yet,” said Linda Brison, who leads three troops in Washington.
“We’re really at the whim of our bakery and the drivers and their schedules,” she said.
Like many local leaders, Amy Gough, who had led Canonsburg Troop 18006 for five years, is frustrated with the delay.
“We have not been given any word on when our initial order will be fulfilled,” said Gough. “We don’t fundraise outside of cookies.”
Because the cookie sale is Troop 18006’s only fundraiser, the Scouts rely solely on earnings to purchase supplies and fund activities and outings.
Gough said delayed cookie shipments means she likely will have to postpone registering Scouts for spring and summer events, including summer camp.
“That does put a delay on downpayments on spots for registering for things. The timeline for that will either be pushed back, or I’ll have to ask parents to front the money,” she said. “You can’t collect money for cookies that don’t exist.”
The delay of this year’s cookie program means loyal customers, whose Trefoils and other goodies have usually arrived on their doorsteps by now, are still eagerly awaiting their orders.
It also means fewer booths may be stationed outside local storefronts in March.
Brison’s troops opted to forego the annual booth fundraiser this year.
“Our cookie sale is, generally speaking, our biggest fundraiser of the year. This year, we’ve elected to not do cookie booths,” said Brison. “We decided that before … the delays had even been announced.”
The logistics of staffing booths fairly – Brison leads about 80 Scouts between the three troops, and booths may be staffed by a maximum of six girls – caused her to reconsider the annual sale.
In Fayette County, Muriel Nuttall’s Troop 52629 plans on hosting a booth – when cookies arrive, that is.
“The girls love to do booths,” Nuttall said. “They love to be out there in the community. I think the community likes to see the girls.”
Nuttall said troops nationwide have been impacted by the delay, but she’s hopeful things will soon turn around.
“When you run into some difficulty, there’s going to be a little bit of frustration,” she said. “We’re just kind of being patient. I don’t think that it’ll have an overwhelmingly negative impact. Once the cookies come in … I think it’ll feel pretty normal.”
Nuttall said she hopes customers will follow through with orders placed before the delay, especially since this program generates most of her troop’s annual income. Her girls have big plans for their money raised.
“Last year, they used their cookie proceeds toward their Silver Award. They built a pollinator garden,” Nuttall said. This year, the girls are hoping to complete a Gold Award project.
The cookie delay isn’t the first bump in the cookie-selling road local scouts have encountered. Brison and Gough both noted the pandemic hit in the middle of the 2020 cookie sale.
That year, Gough’s troop got creative.
“We did a drive-thru where my girls had their masks on. Cars were able to drive up,” Gough said. “That was a little different.”
This year, Brison’s troops are planning different fundraisers, including a rummage sale. Funds will be put toward spring trips, like an overnight camping adventure.
She said the girls have handled the delay with grace.
“The girls are very used to being adaptable. It’s a skill we’re trying to teach them: sometimes we have to adapt and flow with the changes,” Brison said.
When cookies do arrive, Girl Scouts will rush to deliver boxes to customers, and all three troop leaders ask that family, friends and neighbors bear with the Scouts and offer continued support at this time.
“None of us created the problem. This is just something that happened after COVID,” Nuttall said. “As frustrating as it is, it’s just something that we need to weather. We hope that the community supports the Scouts in the way they have in previous years.”