All throughout cookie season, you’ll find excited Girl Scouts ready to sell you a box (or three!) throughout your community. While the cookies inside that box are super tasty, it’s the amazing experiences that happen outside the cookie box that make Girl Scout Cookies so special! Girl Scouts set both personal and troop sales goals for cookie season, teaching them important cooperation and team-building skills as they work to reach them. They also work together to decide how to use their earnings!

Because proceeds from your purchase stay local, you help the awesome entrepreneurs who sell Girl Scout Cookies in your community power new experiences for themselves and their troop. Girls can use their earnings to attend camp for the summer, try out an exciting new workshop, or one of our favorites – give back to their communities! We put together some of our favorite cookie give-back stories from our local Girl Scout troops. Next time you’re visiting a cookie booth, consider how your Girl Scout Cookie purchase might be powering an act of kindness in your neighborhood!

Troop 50209 – Goleta

“Giving back to our community, especially to other children, is at the top of the list for the girls in our fourth-grade Junior troop. Our girls gave the bulk of our earnings to two local organizations this past fall. The first was Gwendolyn’s Playground, an inclusive playground for all children to enjoy that is in the planning phase. We had Gwendolyn’s mom come and speak to our troop to share about the vision. The girls chose the playground because many of them go to school with children who have special needs and they want all children to have a safe and fun place to play. The second place they chose was the Unity Shoppe. We haven’t yet found a time to go and visit, but we hope to schedule a visit soon. The girls chose this nonprofit because they help children and families in our community.” – Kara Nicol Rocque, Troop Leader 

Troop 65060 – Ventura

“Our girls spent an afternoon shopping at PetSmart for items to donate to the Humane Society! They used $500 of their cookie proceeds to buy food, toys, blankets, beds, and other items for the animals in need.” – Lindsay Murray, Troop Leader

Troop 65231 – Oxnard

Girl Scouts from Troop 65231 put together a list of items needed to make care packages. With their cookie proceeds and donations from community members, they were able to purchase a range of basic necessities such as shampoo, deodorant, and toothbrushes. In total, they donated 30 care packages to the Ventura County Rescue Mission, which serves the homeless and low-income members of Ventura County.

Troop 33158 – Salinas

Troop 33158 voted to spend their cookie sale earnings on purchasing backpacks and school supplies as part of the United Way Monterey County’s “Stuff the Bus” program. This program helps children in need start the school year equipped with all of the supplies they need to be ready to learn, easing the financial burden on families and giving children a boost of self-confidence.

Troop 61105 – Ventura

“Girl Scouts from Troop 61105 pulled 12 (one for each level in our troop) senior’s gift request from our county’s giving tree for home-bound seniors. These gift requests included spa baskets, food baskets, blankets, slippers, pajamas, basic needs, etc. The girls went shopping to get needed supplies to make the baskets. It was all dropped off at city hall just in time for Christmas. All with money earned from cookies!” – Samantha Coert Oerlemans, Troop Leader

Troop 62015 – Oxnard

“Troop 62015 donated some of their cookie money to an organization that helped women and children in Africa. We vetted them and had also run across them at the Earth Day festival in Santa Barbara a few years in a row. We had a speaker come and talk to the girls about how life is like for these people. It helped open their eyes about living conditions in different countries and what girls have to deal with. The girls donated $156.00, the cost for two pigmy goats and 11 reusable sanitary kits for 11 girls so they could go to school even when menstruating. Each kit represented the number of girls in our troop.” – Justine Owens, Troop Leader

Troop 66017 – Thousand Oaks

Daisy Troop 66017 decided to use the cookie proceeds from their first year selling towards “something fun” and the rest toward “helping others!” For their own treat, the girls threw themselves an ice skating and pizza party. To give back, the girls organized a donation drive at their school to collect animal toys and other necessities. They delivered the supplies along with a $300 donation from their cookie proceeds to the Agoura Hills Animal Shelter.

Troop 60903 – Simi Valley

Girl Scouts of Senior Troop 60903 used their cookie money to help cancer patients and their families through the Festival of Trees. This event auctions donated, decorated Christmas trees, and all of the proceeds go to local Simi Hospital cancer patients and their families. The girls used their cookie season earnings to decorate and donate an artificial tree, and one troop member donated her musical talents by playing in two quartets to entertain auction guests.

Troop 44579 – Atascadero

Daisy Troop 44579 had the opportunity to take a tour of Woods Humane Society, North County. After initially reviewing the shelter’s needs list, they gathered requested items, brought homemade cat toys, and made a financial donation with the rest of their cookie proceeds.

Troop 60095 – Camarillo

Girl Scouts from this multi-level troop chose to allocate their money towards helping the Camarillo Healthcare Center, which provides both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care to Ventura County residents. The girls donated one air-filtering plant for each room at the facility to both brighten up the rooms and improve air quality!

Looking to make your next cookie purchase? Find out where a Girl Scout is boothing near you by downloading the Cookie Finder app or visiting here!