Girl Scout cookies sales will be different this year due to COVID. Here’s how to get them
UPDATE: Girl Scout Cookies sales in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties have been extended through Feb. 28, 2021. Troops will begin hosting booths at Publix soon, too, a spokeswoman announced on Jan. 22.
With all apologies to Publix for borrowing their “Where Shopping is a Pleasure” slogan, but one of the pleasures of grocery shopping in South Florida after the New Year is seeing tables outside of supermarket front doors festooned with Girls Scouts cookies.
For so many of us, it’s hard to resist picking up a box (or two or three) and sharing pleasantries with the friendly Girl Scouts and their smiling parents as we swap some bills for the annual fundraising treats.
But the COVID pandemic may have your grocery store outlets looking a bit different the next month or so.
To reduce the risk of community spread of the novel coronavirus, Girl Scouts won’t be camped out in front of all the usual places this season.
“COVID-19 will impact how girls will sell and customers will purchase Girl Scout Cookies this year,” said Melinda Glasco, a spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida in Broward. “Some of the places you might normally expect to see a cookie booth may not happen.”
Miami-Dade, Broward on-sale dates, Digital Cookie
That doesn’t mean you can’t buy Girl Scouts cookies now in Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys via Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida through Feb. 28.
Sales were to end on Feb. 15, but the date was extended by nearly two weeks.
“We are pleased to share that Girl Scout Cookies sales in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties will be extended through Feb. 28, 2021. We are also sharing that troops will begin hosting booths at Publix Supermarkets very soon,” said Chelsea Wilkerson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, in an email to the Miami Herald on Jan. 22.
Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida in Broward start their cookie-selling season Feb. 18 through March 21.
The counties’ Girl Scouts councils are already taking Digital Cookie orders now. The platform, through the Girl Scouts’ websites, has been in operation for years, according to the Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida.
“Digital Cookie is the way girls can run their very own online cookie business and has been a platform since 2014,” said Wilkerson. “Girls create their own Digital Cookie site and share their personal link with their friends and family — supervised by an adult. Customers have the option to have cookies shipped, donate cookies to our Hometown Heroes program, and for local customers they can use the Girl Delivery option.”
That Girl Delivery option allows local customers to have a contactless cookie delivery by the Girl Scout or her parent or guardian — who must approve the order first.
Cookies shipped will have shipping fee. Girl Delivery is free.
You can call also call 305-253-4841 or email customercare@girlscoutsfl.org to be virtually connected to a local Girl Scout’s Digital Cookie Platform in your area if you don’t know of a Girl Scout with her own platform. Southeast Florida and Tropical Florida councils are participating in the Digital Cookie platform to cover South Florida.
Are Girl Scout cookies coming to grocers’ storefronts?
So far, Milam’s Markets in Miami-Dade have agreed to let Girl Scouts set up booths outside of their stores this year. Publix and Winn-Dixie have not, as of yet.
“Troops are encouraged to make booths as contactless as possible by using the Digital Cookie App to take credit card [or] debit card payments,” Wilkerson said.
In Broward, Glasco said the Southeast council will be hosting cookie booths at Walmart, Duffy’s Sports Grill locations, GNC locations, some Lowe’s stores plus other businesses.
“On top of that, you will see Girl Scouts putting on their creative thinking caps and hosting drive-thru cookie booths, putting up ‘lemonade stand’ types of displays in their neighborhoods, using door hangers to offer contactless porch deliveries and other creative solutions,” Glasco said of Girl Scouts’ ingenuity amid the pandemic’s challenges.
An easy way to find a Girl Scouts cookies location near you is to type in your email on the Girls Scouts website, girlscouts.org. At this point, the site is directing Broward ZIP Codes to the nearest Milam’s Market — which means a trip across the county line to Sunny Isles Beach about 15 miles south from Fort Lauderdale, or Miami Springs, about 26 miles away.
For points south in Miami-Dade, there are Milam’s Markets in Pinecrest on U.S. 1 and in the Red Bird Shopping Center just outside Coral Gables’ city limits.
GrubHub app
GrubHub is another option new to 2021 for some local Girl Scouts to deliver cookies this season, according to the Girl Scouts’ Tropical council.
If you use the GrubHub service, open the app and you should see a banner for Girl Scout cookies. You can then click to order Girl Scout Cookie Delivery.
Local Girl Scouts will set up their own public ‘restaurants,’ where they supply the Cookie Inventory, set up store hours and coordinate the deliveries with GrubHub drivers in a safe setting, while adhering to all local COVID-19 regulations and guidelines,” according to Wilkerson.
Loved Lemon-Ups in 2020. Any new cookies for ‘21?
What you also want to know: Any new cookies this year?
Alas, no. Last year, Girl Scouts launched Lemon-Ups in South Florida — and they are still available, along with perennials like Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs and Do-si-dos — but no new flavors.
What do Girl Scouts cookies cost in 2021?
Cookies are $5 per box, except Toffee-tastic and Girl Scout S’mores. Those are $6 each.
Shipping fees:
▪ 1-6 boxes: $9.25.
▪ 7-8 boxes: $10.25.
▪ 9-10 boxes: $12.25.
▪ 11-12 boxes: $14.25.
▪ More than 12 boxes: the flat rates incur incrementally, in other words 19 boxes, for example, would be the 12 box rate of $14.25 plus the 7-8 box rate of $10.25 for a total of $24.50.
Cookies for the Military, Hometown Heroes programs
For the 13th year, Broward’s Southeast council is sponsoring its Cookies for the Military program. The program lets you donate boxes or cases of Girl Scout cookies to service women and men domestically or overseas. “Cookies for the Military is a great way for our community to support Girl Scouts while sending a ‘taste of home’ to our troops,’” Glasco said.
This year, Southeast’s goal is to collect enough donations for 75,000 boxes of cookies. The council has sent more than 578,000 boxes of cookies to troops since 2009, according to Glasco.
In Miami-Dade, Tropical’s council also has heroes in mind — a long-running endeavor, too. “Through the Digital Cookie online platform, Girl Scouts will be able to offer customers ... the option to donate cookies to local ‘Hometown Heroes,’ said Wilkerson.
Hometown Heroes include military personnel, first responders, police and firefighters, healthcare workers and essential workers, according to Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida.
You can make a monetary donation to your local Girl Scout — face-to-face, online and at booths — and Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida will do the rest, the spokeswoman said. She added that the council rewarded Hometown Heroes for their service with more than 9,000 boxes of cookies in 2020.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 6:07 AM.
