2020 CitrusPeel Gold Edition

Savvy Girl Scouts
Innovate
When COVID-19 closed down businesses and
forced people to stay home, Girl Scouts of Citrus
had to abruptly shut down the Girl Scout Cookie
program. Unfortunately, this forced many troops
to cancel booths, leaving them with unsold
cookies. Girls began to worry about how they
would fund troop activities, such as outdoor
adventures, community service projects, and
those broader experiences that build leadership
skills so critical to the Girl Scout Leadership
Experience.
In an effort to eliminate hardship for troops,
families and girls, Girl Scouts of Citrus extended
its cookie program into summer for those girls
and volunteers who wanted to try and continue
to sell. Girl Scouts from across the region have
found innovative and safe ways to reach their
cookie program goals.
Community booths were set up as a way to help
the most girls with minimum risk during this
uncertain time. Pre-orders were collected, and
troops used their inventory to package up the
orders. The community then set up drive-thru
booths where girls handed out the cookie orders
in a safe, socially distant matter.
The Girl Scout cookie program has prepared
generations of women to emerge as
entrepreneurs and stand as leaders in their
communities. The COVID pandemic created
an unprecedented environment, but girls are
learning how to quickly pivot and find new
innovative ways to do business.
However, even with the extended cookie
timeline, that didn’t solve the problem for all.
With nearly 2,000 cases of cookies still sitting
in homes and cookie cupboards across the
region. GSC understood that not all troops or
communities would have the ability to sell.
Therefore, a pandemic relief transfer program
was implemented to help those troops left
holding five or more unopened cases of
cookies.
These unopened cases of cookies were
transferred back to Citrus – for a new
initiative, the Cookies for Heroes. Cookies
for Heroes delivered cookies to the special
people who have stood by their communities
during these trying times. In an effort to
24