Cookie Season Kicks off a Wave of Girl- Powered Leadership

This year, the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) released a new lemon-flavored cookie in addition to their lineup of classic flavors to celebrate young female leaders and entrepreneurs. The new Lemon-Ups are sweet glazed lemon cookies that are described as crispy and feature baked-in messages inspired by the Girl Scout core mission. Yummmm! It’s exciting to have a new cookie to help promote all the G.I.R.L. wow things that girls do in Girl Scouts! It was super cool to have the new cookie – and our program – highlighted in the media that included all the national news.

Locally, GSCCC Product Program Manager Erica Chavez along with Girl Scout Cadette Hannah promoted the new cookie today with a Facebook live stream at 7 a.m. and that was followed by Erica and more of our awesome girls doing a shout out about the new cookie on the Hampton Roads Show with hosts Kerri Furey and Chris Reckling. You can read their post here. Then it was off to 13News Now for an interview with WVEC Anchor Ashley Smith and Meteorologist Tim Pandajis – Tim will be our emcee for this year’s Samoa Soiree! Check out a link to the 13News Now Segment here. To add to the buzz, GSCCC Program Director Gretchen Edwards-Bodmer was interviewed on 97.3 The Eagle and 92.9 The WAVE. Coming up, we’ll have guests on WTKR’s Coast Live and WVEC ‘s Coastal Connections.

If you ask a Girl Scout what they plan to do with their cookie earnings you will hear some inspiring ways that the Girl Scout Cookie Program is encouraging leadership and community service within our region. 

Here is an example: Girl Scout Junior Makayda from Chesapeake shared with us some of the ways cookie money has fueled her ability to grow as a leader and give back to her community. In her interview she explained that proceeds from her troop’s earnings allowed them to fund their Bronze Award in which they updated garden landscaping, provided grooming, and made pet treats for the Suffolk Humane Society. Makayda said the most impactful part of her experience was   that “It was hard to prepare for something I have never done before but it was great to help each other and to be able to lead in a new environment.”

Makayda has some advice for other Girl Scouts working in a team this cookie season, "It's great to learn how to lead while also being nice to other kids."

Cookie season is just kicking off! Stay tuned as the cookie program progresses to hear more inspiring, girl-powered stories from our awesome Girl Scouts.