Valleywide : Girl Scouts Selling Cookies Door-to-Door

Who’s that knocking at your door? Don’t panic. It’s not the bill collector.

It’s members of the San Fernando Girl Scout Council kicking off their annual cookie sale today.

With 8,000 girls ranging in age from 5 to 18 and about 4,000 parents and other adults helping out, the San Fernando council’s goal for this year is to sell 540,000 boxes--40,000 more than last year, San Fernando Girl Scout spokeswoman Hallie Walker said.

In the past few days the Scouts have been delivering boxes ordered before the public sale, Walker said. But from now until March 17, the girls will be selling door-to-door after school and outside supermarkets on weekends.

At $3 per box, the cookies are available in eight flavors. The veteran salesgirls note that, in their experience, the most popular cookies are Thin Mints and Samoas, a chocolate and coconut concoction.

“Sometimes [potential customers] act nice and sometimes they act mean,” said Kristen Garmyn, a third-grader at Pomelo Drive Elementary in West Hills who didn’t let grouchy people discourage her mission. With her dad’s help, she said, she sold 1,500 boxes last year, the most of any girl her age.

Walker said last year the troops raised $889,500. Most of the money each year, she said, is used for activities such as Career Day, in which the council invites a variety of professionals to talk to the girls about their fields, or recreational activities such as camping trips, equipment for the girls and outreach programs, among other expenses.

Founded in 1912 by Juliette Low, Walker said, the Girl Scout organization adheres to a philosophy that includes fostering femininity, self-reliance, patriotism and community involvement.

“We want them to also know how to be good mothers,” she said.

An example of the Scouts’ community service, Walker said, was their involvement in helping to collect and distribute food after the Northridge earthquake.