More than cookies? How these Miami Gardens Girl Scouts take care of business
There’s some serious cookie business going on at a Miami Gardens community center.
A dozen Girl Scouts, four moms and a few volunteers fill the room at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex. So do colorful boxes of Thin Mints and Exploremores, the newest flavor Girl Scout cookie.
But one person takes center stage: Janice Coakley, Miss Janice as everyone affectionately calls her, is the leader of the troop.
It’s cookie-selling season for Troop 347, and there’s a lot of work to do.
“I do it because Girl Scouts is positive they get to meet other girls, do different things that they wouldn’t get to do,” Miss Janice says.
Coakley, who is 69, has volunteered with the Girl Scouts since the late 1980s. And her passion for mentoring girls is only rivaled by her humility.
Since she began volunteering, 30 of her Girl Scouts have earned the prestigious Gold Award, the highest achievement in the ranks.
After growing up in Opa-locka, Coakley married her husband, Bercil, in the 1970s and they had two daughters. The young couple bought a home in Miami Gardens’ Carol City neighborhood, and Coakley found work as an administrative assistant for the City of North Miami Beach. For years, she also coached youth cheerleaders in her community.
But volunteering with the Girl Scouts has motivated her in special ways.
Over her almost 40 years of service, Coakley has traveled with her scouts to Rome, Switzerland and Memphis as end-of-the-year trips to treat the scouts for their hard work. In recent years, those trips have been less common.
“Now the economy is not so great,” she said.
Everything seems to be going up — even the price of the cookies her troop sells as a fundraiser.
In 2016, for instance, a box of cookies started at $4. Today, all flavors cost $6 except for the gluten-free Toffee-tastic cookies, which run 7 bucks.
A percentage of cookie sales goes to Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida, a local Girl Scouts of America council. Another percentage of the cookie sales goes toward the scouts’ badges, snacks and trips.
Girl Scout cookies are sold in Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys from Jan. 10 to Feb. 22. In Broward County, cookies are on sale from Jan. 12 to Feb. 15.
Life lessons
For Coakley, the business skills that her scouts learn from selling the cookies are priceless.
“It’s teaching them about money, and it’s teaching them about public speaking,” she said.
Girl Scouts help sell cookies as early as age 5, stretching into their high school years. Coakley makes sure that her troop knows how to make change and how to politely speak to customers, even the difficult ones.
Troop 347 scout Tat’Ioanna Mapp, who lives in Miami Gardens, said selling cookies has helped her grow.
“I learned that patience is key because some people will be rude, but you just have to keep your composure,” said the 17-year-old.
The key challenge for Coakley is keeping girls interested in scouting life as they get older. As girls become teenagers and develop other interests and school commitments, Girl Scouts, which seemed so important, could drop in importance for them, she said.
Tat’Ioanna Mapp is one of three high school seniors that Coakley is working with this year. Every year, Coakley makes her high school senior scouts write a speech about where they see themselves in the future. Since Coakley started volunteering with the Girl Scouts, she has helped mentor about 15 young women who went on to college.
For Miami Gardens’ Khalilah Flatts, being a Girl Scout and selling cookies have taught her about saving money. It’s also showed her what sisterhood means.
Khalilah, who is 13, has a sister 20 years older. So, she values being around kids her own age.
“Me and my Girl Scouts are like sisters,” she said. “We’re really close with each other.”
Eye on diversity
Chelsea Wilkerson has worked as CEO of Girl Scouts of Tropical Florida for the past decade. Her organization presides over Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, and she stresses the desire for diversity in the Girl Scout ranks.
“We’re proud in our work and know that representation matters,” she said. “That’s something we’re very intentional about: Making sure girls see women do things they didn’t think there was an opportunity to do.”
Wilkerson is fond of Coakley’s work with Miami Gardens scouts, and an experience seven years ago affirmed that. Coakley had mentored a Gold Award-winning scout who was about to go on TV to talk about the award. The scout’s mother was grateful that her daughter learned about different scholarships to pay for college from Coakley.
“Only in my time with Miss Janice’s troop did I learn about scholarships not related to athletics,” the scout’s mother explained to Wilkerson. “It was a path to college that I wouldn’t have known existed.”
As Girl Scouts moved around the room at the Miami Gardens community center this past week, some had vests with more than 100 badges and patches to signify their accomplishments.
Coakley’s eyes twinkled with a sense of pride.
Each girl was an example of why she enjoys what she does.
And it’s about more than cookies.
“When you have a goal or something you’re going to do,” she said, “then you can really get them to push.”
Where to buy Girl Scout cookies in Miami Gardens
Interested in buying cookies from the local Girl Scout troop? In Miami Gardens, you can find them at the following locations and times:
Walmart:
- 19501 NW 27th Ave., Thursdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. or noon to 4 p.m.
- 17650 NW Second Ave., Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m. or noon to 4 p.m.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 10:34 AM.
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