Through cookie sale, Girl Scouts learn skills in sales, ethics, finance | The Wichita Eagle

Seven-year-old Angela Goen has an ambitious goal, one she will work toward for nearly three months.

"I want to sell 200 boxes of cookies," Angela said.

Angela is a Brownie Girl Scout working to raise money for her council and troop. She will go door-to-door from Jan. 22 to March 13 asking neighbors, friends and strangers to buy a box of cookies.

Angela exceeded her goal of 75 boxes last year, and her mother, Cammie Goen, said she noticed that some people couldn't resist a cute little girl selling sweets.

But the annual Girl Scout cookie sale requires more than cute kids and irresistible cookies.

Joining Angela is a team of hundreds of volunteers, troop leaders and sales managers who go through weeks of training to ensure the cookie sale is successful.

Cookie managers are volunteers who oversee multiple troops. The volunteers help to organize the cookie sale and make sure the troop leaders turn in all their paperwork on time, said Trish Rusch, a cookie manager for 37 troops. This year's cookie managers have been training and preparing since December.

In previous years, cookie managers held training sessions for the troops they were managing, Rush said. But this year, all troop leaders in Sedgwick County will be trained at the same time.

Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, the council that includes Sedgwick County and 80 other counties in Kansas, held two training sessions this weekend at Newman University. Troop leaders were scheduled to learn about important deadlines, locations for cookie pick-ups, selling techniques and safety tips to share with their Girl Scouts, said Cat Poland, Wichita region director of communications.

"We also talk to troop leaders and girls about customer service, learning how to make a sales pitch, and an important thing the girls learn is how to handle rejection," Poland said.

The Girl Scouts also learn lessons in money management, business ethics, goal setting and people skills.

"We really look at the cookie sale as an entrepreneurship program," said Kandi Lamar, Wichita region product sales manager. "The girls learn life skills they can carry forward."

The money raised from cookie sales goes to help fund the council's programs and activities, Lamar said. The girls also get a portion of the proceeds that they use as "cookie credits." These credits go toward camps and other programs, and they can also use them at the Girl Scout shop to purchase necklaces or small prizes.

The troops also earn proceeds from the sale to put into their troop account. The money provides funds for activities and materials.

Last year, Cammie Goen's troop bought supplies to clean up an area park with the cookie sale proceeds, Goen said.

Last year, the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland sold about 1.4 million boxes of cookies. The goal this year is to increase sales by 2 percent, Poland said.

For Angela, the cookie sale is about more than raising money. It's about connecting with others and growing with the other girls in her troop.

"I'm excited," Angela said. "I like meeting new people."

Her mother agrees.

"These girls work hard, and their effort makes them strong," Goen said. "To someone else, it's just a box of cookies, but to the girls it's so much more."