It’s February in New Orleans, which means one thing is on everyone’s mind — Mardi Gras. In my house, however, it’s not King Cake that’s dominating our sweet dreams, it’s Girl Scout Cookies.
My daughter is a Brownie this year and I am both her troop leader and the troop’s cookie manager. What does this mean? Among other things it means that later this month you may catch me driving a car packed to the gills with Girl Scout cookies, obsessed with the thought at every stoplight that if ever I was going to get carjacked — this would be the time.
It also means my dining room will again be taken over by boxes and boxes of Peanut Butter Patties and Samoas (now called Caramel deLites) and the new favorite cookie, S’mores. I will be harassing my co-workers to forget about their post-Mardi Gras diets and emailing family members with videos of my little girl hopefully being too cute to resist.
But the best thing I will be doing this month is helping my daughter, and 10 other 7-year-old girls, learn how to set a goal for themselves, manage money, market a product, have the confidence to pitch it to someone and learn how to work as a team toward a common goal.
All this and I get a freezer stacked with Thin Mints for the year… It’s a beautiful thing.
So, this is my pitch — please join me this year in supporting the next generation of business leaders. For these young girls, this is their Superbowl. From February 23 through March 11, Girl Scouts across the country will be standing at tables, reaching out to strangers to ask for their support in achieving their goals. Know that 100 percent of what you spend stays local — all the proceeds go straight back to Girl Scouts Louisiana East, with a portion going to that girl’s troop.
For those of you who want to stay on that diet AND do even more good, you can always buy cookies and donate them. Our troop’s charity this year is the New Orleans Women and Children’s Shelter. Basically, “If you can’t eat ‘em, treat ‘em.”
On that note, last year we had an older gentleman walk up to our booth and hand over a $20 bill while explaining sweetly to our girls that he has diabetes so he can’t eat cookies, but he was so proud of what they were doing. The girls talked about him all day.
Every sale means something to them, just like it does for every business owner.
So, happy Mardi Gras, and Happy Cookie Time to you!
Managing Editor
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com
