When the pandemic first began, Girl Scout Cookie season got cut off in its home stretch, halting all sales much to troops’ dismay. “We had to shut down booths,” says Haleigh McGraw, the Girl Scouts of Kentucky’s Wilderness Road (GSKWR) communications and brand director. “We couldn’t be out in the public. We couldn’t go door to door.” This year, the scouts in GSKWR are ready. Cookie distribution will have a digital, contactless twist, thanks to Grubhub.
Photograph provided by Girl Scouts of Kentucky's Wilderness Road
The massive overstock from last year’s stunted season got the Girl Scout team’s wheels turning, and community partnerships became the key to staying afloat. This shift helps Girl Scouts reinvigorate operations. But it brought up a pertinent question: “How can we still get our girls in front of people so that they can earn money for their business?” McGraw explains. “The Grubhub partnership evolved from there.”
Starting February 5, Lexington and Northern Kentucky cookie enthusiasts can order through the Grubhub app on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 7 p.m. Older Girl Scouts will man “booths” located at local Grubhub offices, using their community partner’s tech infrastructure to fill orders. Customers can schedule a time to pick up their cookie order or have their cookies delivered—Grubhub is waiving all fees to make contactless delivery possible.
Starting February 1, customers in Greater Cincinnati can order cookies online by entering their zip code into the Girl Scout Cookie Finder to find a local troop near them.
Regular programming isn’t happening for local Girl Scout troops, but online platforms like Grubhub ensure that the girls are still gaining financial literacy skills and raising funds for their next adventure. “They get to use those funds for their service projects, their destination trips, when those become available,” McGraw says. “A big thing our girls have been missing out on during this is our travel opportunities.”
Specific to Northern Kentucky’s troops, a new cookie launches this year: the “Toast-Yay!,” a scrumptious cinnamon flavored cookie coated with an icy glaze to give that sweet French toast touch. (“It’s shaped like a piece of toast,” McGraw says. “Pretty cute.”)
Don’t worry, though. The classics you love—whether it be “Thin Mints,” “Tagalongs,” what have you—aren’t going anywhere, and having any of them delivered through Grubhub helps Kentucky Girl Scouts with sales. When you buy a box of cookies, 100% of those funds stay with local troops.
For more information about GSKWR, visit gskentucky.org.
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