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Community Corner

Girl Scout Cookie Sales Start Today, Find Out Where

Girl Scouts begin selling today in Hybla Valley

Are you a cookie monster? Then you’ll be pleased that the time of year has come when the Girl Scouts are hitting the sidewalks in Hybla Valley with their annual cookie booths.

Alexandria is home to the girl scouts of Association 53, which serves Hybla Valley and nearby neighborhoods starting today through March 27.

Sales in Hybla Valley today will take place at the Giant on 6800 Richmond Highway beginning at 4 p.m. through 6 p.m.. For a full listing of the sales in Hybla Valley over the next month, check out this chart.

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The girls are selling cookies of chocolate, mint, peanut butter and shortbread varieties, and more.

"The top selling cookie nationwide is the Thin Mint," said Julie Carlson, manager of product sales at GSCNC. "It accounts for about 27 percent of our total sale. "

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The cookie sales aren't just about satisfying a sweet tooth for the girls.

For the scouts, selling cookies helps them learn essential life skills such as how to set goals and work with a team to exceed those goals, Carlson said.

"From the beginning, the cookie sale is like their business and they decide how to market a product and run their business," she said.

Last year, more than 42,000 girl scouts set up booths in front of grocery stores and other retail shops and went door-to-door selling cookies to raise money for their troops.

They sold more than $4 million boxes in total, which averages to 108 boxes for each girl. For each $4.00 box sold, the individual troop keeps $0.69, and $2.04 goes toward girl scout troop programs. The remainder goes to the girl scout cookie councils, she said.

This year, avid cookie customers can use their smartphones to locate booths using a mobile app. The app can be downloaded free by calling **GSCookies from your mobile phone or by searching for "Cookie Locator."

On the menu are cookie eight varieties:

Thin Mints, a wafer covered in chocolaty coating and made with natural peppermint

Samoas, vanilla cookies covered in caramel, rolled in toasted coconut and striped with chocolate

Tagalongs, which are creamy peanut butter vanilla cookies covered in chocolate

Trefoils, shortbread cookies emblazoned with the girl scout’s logo

Do-Si-Dos, crisp oatmeal cookies with peanut butter filling

Lemon Chalet Cremes, a sandwich cookie with cinnamon sugar

Thank You Berry Much, a cookie with cranberries and white fudge chips mixed in and

Dulce de Leche, sweet cookies donned with caramel chips.

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