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EL PASO, Texas — Girl Scout cookie season usually comes to an end by March, however this year’s cookie sales are far from over and the pandemic is to blame.
Around this time of the year, the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest usually have around 2,000 boxes left over. But this year they have over 100,000 unsold boxes of cookies.
“I thought that maybe it was because of Covid and it was and I was shocked, but I was like we can push through it,” said Samantha Wise, a cadet.
The impact of Covid-19 was felt by nearly every industry and business and the Girl Scouts of America were no exception.
“We really didn’t know what the public was going to think. ‘Should we buy from these girls? We don’t know where the cookies have been,’” said Kim Wise, a junior.
Kim and Samatha are proud Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest. For them, cookie season is something they always look forward to, but this year they were not sure what to expect since Covid safety concerns would restrict in person sales.
“When we went house to house. they were like ‘let’s not because we’re supposed to be quarantined,” said Kim.
“We weren’t sure if it would be safe for the girls to have booths or if stores would welcome us to have booths and if the customers would be willing to buy, so the girls and staff faced an unknown every week,” said Melissa Wardy, the chief development officer for the Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest.
Scouting staff found other creative ways to safely sell cookies during the pandemic such as drive-thru sales, GrubHub deliveries and other online orders, but It still was not enough to make the revenue the organization usually makes during Girl Scout cookie season.
“With the loss we’ve experienced for 2021 that means one to two staff positions won’t be able to get filled,” said Wardy. “It also means a loss of girl programming and community support and involvement as well as a loss of capital revenue for us to be able to fix our air conditioning unit and light in the lobby.”
The Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest is encouraging the community to stop by their offices to purchase cookies until August. Their offices are located in northeast El Paso at 9700 Girl Scout Way.
If companies would like to order cookies in bulk and have them delivered to local shelters, the Girl Scouts will be able to deliver those orders personally.
Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest will also be holding an open house at their northeast location on Saturday, June 19, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. for locals to buy cookies and learn more about the organization.
Click here for more details on how you can help The Girls Scouts of the Desert Southwest.
