WORCESTER — It was snowing but the outlook was for Do-si-dos, Thin Mints, S’mores and more favorites Saturday morning as the Girl Scouts cookie season got underway with the annual Cookie Drop.
Several big tractor-trailers from the New England company Bormann Brothers delivered 15,620 cases of cookies to the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts organization outside of its Worcester offices at 115 Century Drive. Troop leaders and other volunteers from all around drove by to pick up the cookies to bring back for Girl Scouts from a total of 176 troops to sell in their communities.
“Today’s a fun kind of big kickoff,” said Sara Rowan, the organization’s senior director of girl experience.
Autumn Thebodo of the Girl Scouts of Central Massachusetts is the checker-outer at the Cookie Drop on Saturday in Worcester.
From left, Sara Rowan, senior director of experience, and Theresa Lynn, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central Massachusetts, stand in front of a palette of Girl Scout cookies on Saturday in Worcester.
The cases translated to just under 190,000 boxes of cookies that were going to be picked up from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Worcester regardless of Saturday’s light but constant snow on a gray mid-January day.
Girl Scouts cookie season is from January until mid-March, said Theresa Lynn, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.
“It’s very, very important the girls sell the cookies to be able to do more activities and adventures,” Lynn said. Cookie program revenue is a critical source of funding for Girl Scout councils, which deliver essential programming to troops.
The scene in Worcester was being repeated at hubs set up by the organization in Springfield, West Springfield and Townsend as more than 32,600 cases were delivered overall.
The organization serves nearly 6,000 girls from five counties in Central and Western Massachusetts, Lynn said. “We are also an organization that relies on volunteers.” In this case, 3,000 volunteers, she said.
In Worcester, the cookie operation seemed organized to sweet perfection. People picking up their cookies had already placed their orders in advance, so about 30 staff and volunteers knew exactly how many cases they would need to receive. The line of vehicles was long but moved quickly.
“It’s a bit like a drive-through,” Rowan said.
“Sometimes people come with one car, sometimes people come with U-Hauls, sometimes they come with trailers. We can load a palette onto a trailer,” she said.
At the end of the process, the vehicles passed by Autumn Thebodo, a community engagement specialist for the organization but on Saturday tasked with being checker-outer, with clipboard in hand.
The nationwide Girl Scout cookie program has been called the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world.
“It’s also a program that teaches them marketing skills, sales skills, engaging in good conversation. What if someone says ‘I don’t like cookies?’ Or ‘I can’t eat gluten?'” Lynn said. In the latter instance, “we have cookies that are gluten-free,” she said.
Cookies will start to go on sale by next weekend. People can track down where to find cookies on the organization’s online cookie finder or buy them from any Girl Scout they know, Lynn said. Girl Scouts are not encouraged to go door-to-door except for people they know.
The organization will also be engaging with businesses to sell the cookies — perhaps to employees or to donate to places such as shelters, Lynn said.
The Girl Scout cookie season is sweet but short.
“January to to mid-March is the only time of the year,” Rowan said. But if people buy plenty of items such as the popular Thin Mints, “you can put them in the freezer year long,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Girl Scouts cookie season gets underway annual cookie drop in Worcester