Image via flickr user Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar

The Valley Girl Scouts council has ended its sales for the year with the lead in national sales — and now they’ve turned their attention to supporting the community during the pandemic.

Starting from Super Bowl Weekend at the beginning of February and concluding on March 15, Girl Scouts Central California South was taking part in their world-famous cookie sales. The result of their efforts was 1.3 million packages sold for more than $6 million in six weeks, making them the No. 1 sellers among 1,100 councils nationwide. They also have the highest rate of growth for new members of any council in the country.

According to development director Jody Hudson and CEO Russel Statham, a portion of their success can be attributed to the “Cookie Donor Buyout” program. Inspired by a similar campaign done last year by the Central Coast chapter, local businesses had the option of buying out a booth with a pledge of $500 or more. The buyers could then turn around and donate the cookies to charities, clients or employees.

“Because ultimately, that’s what the cookie program is all about — it’s about teaching them to run a business and be leaders in their communities,” Statham said. “And so I think businesses really resonated with that because they can come alongside girls and support them in those impassioned dreams.”

Statham added that it was also a way to support the largest girl-run business in America. As he put, it’s more than just a fundraiser

However, the donor buyout actually resulted in only a small fraction of the 1.3 million packages sold, making up only $22,000 in sales. But the program energized the girls greatly. Sales ended up being 30% higher than they were last year, with those sales being up 7% from 2018. This support is coming not only from local businesses, but also from within.

“I heard about a girl that went around and she knew that some of the girls weren’t making their individual goals and she — with her own money — bought cookies to help support her own sisters,” Hudson said. “And I mean, I just get goose bumps thinking about that.”

Now, the girls are focusing on cookie donations to the local hospitals. Already, they’ve donated to Community Medical Centers and Valley Children’s Healthcare.