Girl Scout Cookies on Sale Now

Got a hankering for some Samoas? Maybe a Thin Mint craving? Whatever your flavor, Girl Scout cookies will be available via traditional cookie booths all over the Tampa Bay area starting Feb. 25 and ending March 20.

The Fossil Valley Service Unit wishes to thank  the following local merchants who have agreed to support the Girl Scouts by hosting girl-led, girl-run cookie booths:

• Ace Hardware – 10415 County Road 39
• Rick’s Meats – 10252 County Road 39
• TADA – 16711 FishHawk Blvd.
• Beef O’Bradys – 16773 FishHawk Blvd.
• Publix – 5642 FishHawk Crossings Blvd.
• FishHawk Bagels – 13435 FishHawk Blvd.
• Flint Creek Outfitters – 13425 FishHawk Blvd.
• DaSilva’s – 15282 FishHawk Blvd.
• You Say When Yogurt Shoppe – 5614 FishHawk Crossings Blvd.
• Walgreens – 5605 FishHawk Crossings Blvd.

Booths will be set up between the hours of 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. during the week, 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. 

New this year, Girl Scouts of West Central Florida is rolling out the Cookie Booth Finder, an online search engine that will allow you to find the closest cookie booth to you when you need to satisfy that craving quick! Just plug in your ZIP code, and the Cookie Finder will tell you where to go – anywhere in the 8 county region that the Girl Scout council serves. Go to www.girlscoutcookies.org  to find your best location.  

If cookies aren’t in your food plan this season, you are invited to purchase a Gift of Caring. These boxes of American nostalgia and goodness are sent to the  military in combat zones overseas. Last year the council sent more than 45,000 boxes of cookies to men and women serving. Corporate sponsorships of this program are available as well.

The Annual Cookie Sale isn’t just about selling cookies. It’s about developing valuable skills and values in girls and young women, including self-confidence, goal-setting, planning, budgeting and business ethics. This hands-on activity gives the girls real-world experience, providing a strong foundation for future success. 

All of the activities throughout the year that the girls experience are driven based primarily on the outcome of the cookie sale. Girls, with the guidance of their volunteer leaders, make a plan each year for what they wish to accomplish, including charitable services and gifts, field trips, educational activities and, of course, fun. They then base their cookie sale goals on these plans, and make every effort to reach those goals in order to fulfill their plans.

A common special trip planned by many of the older girl troops is to Savannah, Ga., birthplace of Juliette Gordon Lowe, the founder of Girl Scouts USA. Many troops set that goal years in advance and use each cookie sale as another step closer to funding their trip entirely on their own. It is an exercise in self-sufficiency that proves invaluable year after year.

The Fossil Valley Service Unit of Girl Scouts is made up of more than 350 girls from Bevis, FishHawk Creek, Stowers, and Pinecrest Elementary schools, as well as Randall and Barrington middle schools, and Newsome high school.   These Scouts make up 33 troops including Daisies (kindergarten to first grade), Brownies (second and third grades), Juniors (fourth and fifth grades), Cadettes (sixth to eighth grades), Seniors (ninth and 10th grades), and Ambassadors (11th - 12th grades).

For more information go to www.gswcf.org, www.girlscoutcookies.org or www.girlscouts.org.