Orange County Girl Scouts get creative during the pandemic
Huntington Beach resident Savannah Larson paused for just a second before naming her favorite Girl Scout cookie.
“My favorite is the Peanut Butter Sandwich,” she said.
Why?
“Because it’s good.”
Savannah, a seventh-grader at Talbert Middle School, knows that many people have a go-to Girl Scout cookie. Some swear by Thin Mints that have been frozen. Others are quickly becoming fans of the Girl Scouts of Orange County’s new offering for 2021, the French toast-inspired Toast-Yay.
A Cadette in Girl Scout Troop 3345, Savannah is an elite cookie seller. She’s sold more than 1,000 boxes in each of the last two years, earning her membership into the “1,000-plus club.” Her tally this year is already more than 600 boxes, though she’s set her goal at a more modest total of 750.
Cookie-selling season is here again, but COVID-19 has definitely affected the way Girl Scouts have operated their fundraising efforts. This year, cookie sales have been extended through March 28 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The really cool thing that we’ve done this year is that we’ve made QR codes,” Savannah said. “We put that on a sign that’s outside of our house, so anyone who’s driving by or walking outside of our house can take a picture and scan it. They can order cookies from me, and we can go and deliver them and stay socially distanced. We don’t even have to interact.”
Girl Scouts of Orange County has become creative during the pandemic, Communications Director Caron Berkley said. Their familiar booths are not allowed outside of grocery stores right now due to state health restrictions.
Door hangers with the QR codes and a personalized link are another new touch. The organization has also introduced the Great Girl Scout Cookie Buy-Out, which allows businesses to buy out a virtual booth, starting at 50 packages of cookies or $250.
Girl Scouts of Orange County, which includes about 18,000 girls, has also partnered with Grubhub for cookie deliveries at certain hours. Girl Scout troops staff the three locations, including sites in Mission Viejo, Yorba Linda and at the county headquarters in Irvine, and receive app orders on a tablet. They then place the cookies on a table from which a Grubhub driver picks them up and delivers them to the buyer.
The money raised from the deliveries goes to benefit the volunteering troop.
“It’s not in your face as much as it usually is, with girls out in front of stores or being able to go door-to-door in neighborhoods,” Berkley said. “Not unlike small businesses, who are stressed these days in the pandemic to come up with new and creative business models, Girl Scouts are doing the same thing.”
Marriana Alfano, an 8-year-old from Huntington Beach, has already sold more than 600 boxes this year for Troop 7332, though she has a way to go to match her total of 1,379 boxes from last year. She said cookie sales have been harder this year — “my legs hurt more because I have to go around and drop off door hangers” — but she is still enjoying the work.
Alisa Lembke-Alfano, Marriana’s mom, said the family doesn’t mind the contactless aspect this year. Both mother and daughter have asthma. They teamed up to post a video on social media.
“We considered not doing this, but we wanted the consistency for her, because she’s done it and had success the last few years,” Lembke-Alfano said. “I think it’s important for her to realize that she can still do things. It might be different, but in the long run, we’ve learned a lot.”
Devon Hills, who lives in Costa Mesa, also is learning as a troop leader for Troop 8480, which includes her 6-year-old daughter, Lucy. As a kindergartner Lucy is in the Girl Scouts’ Daisy program. The family has been using social media for many of their sales.
“She loves it,” Hills said of Lucy’s involvement. “She’s more focused on selling cookies, making the phone calls to friends and family so that she can earn money for activities in the future. Even at this age, they really are learning how to manage money and kind of getting the idea of the value of the dollar [and] what they might be able to buy with this money that they’ve earned.”
Berkley, whose own daughter Tess is a Junior Girl Scout, said online sales have been strong. The proceeds from the cookies stays local and fund many of a troop’s activities for the year.
She said she drives around each Saturday with her daughter to deliver orders placed online.
“Cookie sales, as challenging as it is, it’s still a bright light for these girls,” Berkley said. “The success of each sale really gives them a boost of self-confidence. We want to do everything we can to help with that.”
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