Welcome to the third edition of The Cookie Press for the 2024 Cookie Season! |
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Read on for more information about Family Cookie Business Meeting, Council-Sponsored Virtual Cookie Rally, Troop & Girl Materials, Online Troop Training, 2024 Cookie Patches In Stock, West Metro Cookie Cupboard Location and Staffing Leads Request, Walmart and Sam's Club Cookie Booth Locations, Final TCP of 2023, Smart Cookies Registration Links, Initial Order Cookie Calculator, Service Unit Cookie Guidebook Available Now, Last Call for Cookie Rally Orders, and Troop Materials Shipment.
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- Host Your Family Cookie Business Meeting
- Join the GSRV Virtual Cookie Rally
- Troop & Girl Scout Cookie Materials Shipping
- Online Troop Cookie Training
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- 2024 Cookie Patches Are Now In-Stock at Retail Shops
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Help Wanted: West Metro Cookie Cupboard Location and Cupboard Positions
- Help Needed: Walmart and Sam's Club Cookie Booths
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- Look for Your Link and Set-up Smart Cookies
- Get Initial Order Help with the Cookie Calculator
- The Cookie Press Returns in January
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For Service Unit Cookie Managers:
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- Service Unit Cookie Manager Guidebook & Online Training Available Now
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Last Call for Cookie Rally Orders
- Troop Materials Shipment
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Host Your Family Cookie Business Meeting |
The Family Cookie Meeting is critical to the success of your troop’s Cookie Program. It helps to provide a foundation of understanding and agreement for both volunteers and families. River Valleys recommends hosting a meeting in January. This meeting can be held in-person or virtually (or both). Use the Troop Family Cookie Meeting resources on Cookie Central to help you prep and run the meeting. Send out invites now so families can circle this important date on their calendars.
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Join the GSRV Virtual Cookie Rally! |
River Valleys is holding a virtual Cookie Rally again this year! We want to kick off the Cookie season by bringing Girl Scouts together to get excited and ready for the sale. This event will be streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Girl Scouts can learn about goal setting, learn more about our LemonAID philanthropic program partner, Friends of the Mississippi River, see what’s available in our River Valleys Shops, win some Axolotl-ly awesome prizes, and more!
Your Service Unit may hold their own Cookie Rally event, and Girl Scouts can attend one or both rallies.
Who: ALL River Valleys Girl Scouts are welcome!
When: Tuesday February 6, from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: The comfort of your own home!
How do I sign up? Registration is not required to view this FREE event, but Girl Scouts who complete our Cookie Rally interest form will receive a reminder email featuring the rally activities.
Can’t make it? Don’t worry! You can view the recording of the event later on the Girl Scouts River Valleys Facebook or YouTube pages.
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Troop & Girl Scout Cookie Materials Shipping |
Troop Cookie materials will be shipping to Service Units the week of December 25. Your Service Unit Cookie Manager will be in touch to coordinate picking up your troop supplies.
If you want to get a head start reviewing your resources, our Troop Cookie Manager Guidebook is available now on Cookie Central! It has been updated for the 2024 season and is packed to the brim with all things cookies. Along with your Troop Cookie Companion, you’ll use the guidebook for a deeper dive into all the details on the Cookie Program. You can download and print a copy, or simply access it online to always ensure you are reviewing the most current info. It’s a must-read to guarantee you have all the details you need to fulfill your important cookie duties.
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Online Troop Cookie Training Materials Now Available |
We know you've been eagerly awaiting the Online Troop Cookie Training materials for Cookies 2024! Our training videos and PowerPoint presentations have been updated and are now available on Cookie Central! This year's Online Troop Cookie Manager Training includes an Overview of the Cookie Program Highlights, how-to's for Engaging Troops and Girl Scouts, Managing the Cookies and Cookie Finances, videos on using Smart Cookies and Digital Cookie, plus much more!
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2024 Cookie Patches Are Now In-stock at Retail Shops |
New patches for the 2024 Cookie season are in stock at all GSRV Shop locations! Cookie Rally, Cookie Kickoff, mini cookie patches, and more are now available to purchase. Check out our website for updated River Valleys Retail Shop hours and locations.
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Help Wanted: West Metro Cookie Cupboard Location and Cupboard Positions |
The GSRV Properties Team is looking for a new warehouse in the West Metro (Golden Valley/Plymouth area) to host a cookie cupboard for the 2024 season. Please submit any leads to GSRV Director of Property, Matt Hein.
Working at a cookie cupboard is one sweet job! If you or anyone you know would be interested in working at a cookie cupboard, please reach out to our Cookie Staffing team at itsonesweetjob@girlscoutsrv.org!
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Help Needed: Walmart and Sam's Club Cookie Booths |
We've been hard at work securing Walmart and Sam's Club cookie booth locations for this cookie season! 31 stores have already approved and we are well on our way, however, we need some help! There are still 11 stores without an identified volunteer to visit and talk with a store manager. If you live near one of these stores and are willing to help, please fill out our Booth Recruitment Sign-Up and we'll provide you with all the tools for a successful store visit! Thank you for all your support to provide our Girl Scouts with the tools for a fun and busy cookie season.
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- Sam's Clubs: Woodbury, Bloomington, Fridley, and White Bear Lake
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Walmarts: Andover, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Marshall, Oak Park Heights, Owatonna, and Vadnais Heights
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Look for Your Link and Set-up Smart Cookies |
Volunteers will receive their links to access Smart Cookies, the online cookie management system, the week of December 18. You’ll receive the email invitation from noreply@abcsmartcookies.com. Check your spam/junk/promo folder in case the email doesn’t land directly in your inbox. River Valleys will add two troop contacts to the system: the Troop Leader and the Troop Cookie Manager. Troops can only have two contacts in the system but can add multiple users. Troop contacts receive emails from Smart Cookies and have access to all functions. Troop users do not receive Smart Cookies system emails but will have access to all functions. To add other troop users or change contacts, you must reach out to us at girlscouts@girlscoutsrv.org. Once you’ve registered, complete the important first steps:
1. Complete your volunteer profile.
2. Enter troop banking information and the # of Girl Scouts selling.
3. Confirm your Girl Scouts’ information.
All the information you need to navigate Smart Cookies is included in our Smart Cookies Guide for Volunteers on Cookie Central. Rest assured, when important Smart Cookies tasks are on the horizon this cookie season, we’ll keep you up to date right here!
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Get Initial Order Help with the Cookie Calculator |
If your troop is planning to participate in in-person cookie sales or plans to hold Cookie Booths starting on Cookie Go Day, you’ll want to start thinking about your initial cookie order. River Valleys Cookie Calculator has returned this season. The Cookie Calculator will provide a recommendation for your initial order by cookie variety. If your troop participated in the last cookie season, the recommendation will take into account your troop’s 2023 PGA (per girl average) from your total troop sales.
If your troop did not participate in 2023, the recommendation will be based on the PGA from your troop’s Girl Scout Grade Level. Note: The Cookie Calculator will provide a recommendation based on # of packages by variety. The initial cookie order in Smart Cookies is made in cases. There are 12 packages in each case of cookies. For troops that place an initial order based on the River Valleys recommended total case count, all girls selling in the troop will receive our exclusive 2024 year bar patch for each Girl Scout selling, plus 2 cookie themed car coasters for the adults in the troop featuring Bubbles the axolotl. Troops do not need to follow the variety recommendation to earn the rewards, only the total case count.
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The Cookie Press Returns in January |
We’ll be pausing The Cookie Press e-newsletters for the rest of the month, with the next post going live on Thursday, January 4. Review the past issues for your reference, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions before then! As always, we are here to support you and answer any questions you may have. On behalf of the entire Product Program Team, we wish you the best during the winter holiday season!
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Service Unit Cookie Manager Guidebook & Online Training Available Now |
Our annual Service Unit Cookie Manager Guidebook has now been updated for the 2024 season. Along with the handy Service Unit Cookie Notebook, you’ll use this guidebook to dive deeper into your role in supporting troops through their program participation. You can download a copy from Cookie Central or simply review the electronic version that will always have the most current cookie info for your role.
Just a reminder, if you were unable to attend one of our virtual Service Unit Cookie Manager training sessions, our River Valleys Service Unit Cookie Manager Online Training is now available. Remember that you must have attended a virtual training session or have completed the online training as a part of your Service Unit level role. Plus, one of the requirements to earn the annual service unit proceeds is to have at least one service unit volunteer complete cookie training by February 1.
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Last Call for Cookie Rally Orders |
Reminder: Troop Materials Shipping the Week of December 25. |
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Cookie print materials and supplies for troops and Girl Scouts will ship the week of December 25. You’ll distribute the items to each participating troop. The items include cookie order cards, rewards fliers, receipt books, Cookie Booth & Sales kits, copies of the Troop Cookie Companion, Family Guides, and money envelopes. You’ll also receive Lemonades sample packages for each troop.
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Have a question? Don't be shy!
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