Local Girl Scouts troops start selling cookies Friday - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

It's a day a lot of us look forward to every single year - Girl Scout cookies go on sale Friday.

The Scouts are selling eight different kinds of cookies this year - a little something for everyone to love.

But local troop leaders say that, for the Girl Scouts themselves, the program is about so much more than just the cookies in the box.

Grace and Faith Granberry have been Girl Scouts in Winona Troop 2989 for seven years and say it's the friendships they've made that matter the most.

"We get together with a bunch of friends and we hang out, have fun, talk about personal stuff, family stuff, Girl Scout stuff," said Faith, a cadet.

The cookie sales serve as the major fundraiser each year for each troop, helping them pay for patches and fund troop activities.

"When we sell the cookies, the money we get 50 cents for each box, and that 50 cents goes towards our year-end trip," Faith said.

"We talk to the girls about the costs of all of those things, and how to break that up, and what portion of their cookie sales are going to pay for certain things," said Girl Scout Troop Leader Melissa Granberry. "And they set goals to see what they want to raise."

Granberry says the cookie program also teaches valuable life skills, like how to talk to people.

"Some of them are really eager. You can always tell those that are really going to be your marketing and sales people in the world, because it really starts helping them hone in on some of those skills to help them determine what they want to do in the future as well," said Granberry.

The Granberry girls say they've learned a lot from cookie sales.

"How to handle with money. And leadership," said 11-year-old Grace. "Making a difference in the world."

When you buy your cookies this year, you'll notice something new - updated packaging.

"We do have a brand new sleek look to the packaging, and it really ties in, especially on the front of it, the shape that Girl Scouts uses with the Trefoil," Granberry said.

And even if you've made that New Year's resolution to eat healthy, you can support your Girl Scout troops by buying cookies for another set of troops.

"You can actually pay for a box of cookies and we will set it aside and ship those to the troops overseas," Granberry said of the Girl Scouts Troop to Troop program.

Your local Girl Scouts will have their cookie order forms through mid to late March.

Booth sales start the last weekend in February, and if you're a smart phone user, you'll be able to search for the Cookie Locator app in February to find the closest sale to you.

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