The oldest council west of the Mississippi, Girl Scouts of Hawaii launched its first troops — sponsored by Queen Liliuokalani — just five years after the scouting movement was founded in 1912 in Georgia. And cookies have now served as a go-to fundraiser for camping and other adventures for the better part of a century.
These days, though, there’s a lot more to the annual cookie season than ringing doorbells, said Shari Chang, the statewide council’s CEO.
“The cookie program is just that, a program — not just sales,” Chang said. “It is the largest girl-led entrepreneur business in the world, and five essential business skills are developed through the program: goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.”
Scouts, who prepped for the season and polished skills last month at the council’s second annual “Cookie Expo,” will be taking care of sales of Thin Mints and other sorts at locations across the state starting today through March. All of the revenue generated by Hawaii girls stays here, with dough reserved for enrichment opportunities as well as community service projects.
Before taking her post at the Hawaii council in 2014, Chang, who comes from a four-generation Girl Scout family, was employed in the hospitality industry for about three decades. Throughout that career, she enjoyed working in tandem with nonprofit organizations, prompting her children to encourage her to pursue such work on a full-time basis.
“I always told them when that last tuition payment was made, I would. When my youngest daughter graduated from law school … the timing was perfect,” Chang said.
Then, when a former hospitality executive who was serving on the local Girl Scout’s board of directors approached her, Chang recalled, “I knew that was it – I found my passion in mentoring and helping to develop the young women leaders of the future.”
She added, “We are the organization creating — through our skill-building Girl Scout Leadership Experience — the female leadership pipeline. The (G.I.R.L.) ‘Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, and Leaders of tomorrow.’”
Question: Let’s start with the cookie count. Stacks of boxes were distributed to Oahu troops at Aloha Stadium on Thursday. How many boxes are slated to be sold in Hawaii this year?
Answer: More than 480,000. Thin Mints still remains a favorite in Hawaii (32 percent of sales) followed by Samoas (19 percent), but the newest cookie, S’Mores, is really catching the interest of cookie lovers here.
Traditional flavors cost $5 per box; $6 per box for the two newest specialty cookies, S’Mores and the gluten-free Toffee-Tastic.
Q: Where will the girls be selling cookies?
A: Door-to-door and at cookie booths, as well as through the “Digital Cookie” platform, our web-based addition to the program that helps girls run and manage their Girl Scout Cookie businesses online.
This is our fourth year utilizing this tool, and the platform continues to keep Girl Scout programming current and relevant … including by providing girls with valuable business and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills.
Q:Last year, Tiki’s restaurant in Waikiki placed an order of Thin Mints large enough to make 1,350 Kona coffee cheesecakes with a cookie crust. Any restaurant orders this season?
A: A number are participating in our cookie program by developing specialty desserts made with Girl Scout cookies, and contributing a portion of their sales back to Girl Scouts of Hawaii. Current partners include: On Oahu – Duke’s Waikiki, Tiki’s and Via Gelato; on the island of Hawaii — Huggos, Lava Lava Club and Hilo Bay Café.
Q: There are about 5,000 members (girls — kindergartners through high school students — and adult volunteers) in Hawaii’s council. Troop structure is tied to the “Leadership Experience” program?
A: Yes. Our program is based on time-tested methods and research-backed programming that helps girls take the lead in their own lives and the world. Girl Scouts is proven to help girls thrive in five key ways as they: develop a strong sense of self; display positive values; seek challenges and learn from setbacks; form and maintain healthy relationships; and identify and solve problems in the community.
Everything we do centers around STEM learning, outdoor activities, development of life skills and entrepreneurship — and is designed to meet a girl where she is now, and to grow along with her. Girl Scouts takes the potential of girls, combines it with robust skill-building programming, and adds caring adult mentors and strong female role models.
… Last year, 23 new STEM badges were launched along with STEM “Journeys” programs including “Think Like an Engineer,” “Computer Science —Think Like a Programmer” and … “Think Like a Citizen Scientist.” In addition, new national partnerships with NASA, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute and Raytheon are opening up many programs for our girls, including cybersecurity.
In the area of life skills, the focus is on civic engagement, healthy living, global citizenship and communication skills. Our outdoor focus is adventure- and skill-building, including camp experiences for all age levels. And entrepreneurship is taught through the cookie program.
Q:Where do you go for the camp experiences?
A: We have three camps in Hawaii: Camp Paumalu on Oahu, a 135-acre site situated above the North Shore’s Sunset Beach; smaller Camp Piiholo in upcountry Maui at Makawao; and Camp Kilohana in the Waimea area on the island of Hawaii.
Q: The top award for a Girl Scout is called the “Gold Award,” which is somewhat similar to the “Eagle Scout” rank in Boy Scouts. Both require a well-planned and -executed community service project. Also folded into the Girl Scout award is an element of sustainability?
A: Only 6 percent of Girl Scouts nationwide (and statewide) earn the Gold Award due to the challenging requirements and rigorous process that calls for leadership at the highest level as they tackle issues they feels passionately about that include making sure that the project is sustainable within the community even after the Girl Scout goes to college.
Hawaii Gold Award Scouts have developed some amazing projects here and internationally, which truly demonstrates the global citizenship leadership that we believe so strongly in.
… We hold what we call higher award summits, where Girl Scouts looking to work on their Bronze, Silver and Gold awards have an opportunity to meet with a variety of nonprofit groups to learn about their needs in the community and what they (Girl Scouts) could help them with (through award projects).
Q: Are Girl Scout groups addressing “Me Too” or other gender-focused current events in any way?
A: One of the key elements of Girl Scouts leadership development is advocating for yourself and for others. … This is especially relevant today when you look at the “State of Girls Report on Hawaii” where we only rank 23rd in the nation for the well-being of young girls.
We help girls develop confidence, courage and character and to find their voice. This is an important and empowering opportunity for young girls. It is the power to empower one’s self. It is the power that every member at Girl Scouts … can demonstrate through action each day.
Q: How is Girl Scouts different today — compared to what the organization was like when you were growing up?
A: The biggest difference is that today’s program is “girl-led.”
When I was a Girl Scout, the leaders made the decisions as to the type of activities and community service projects we would work on. Today the girls team up and work together to explore the things that interest them most as they learn by doing. That’s how Girl Scouts unleash their inner G.I.R.L. as they achieve our five leadership outcomes (tagged by the Leadership Experience program).
However, when it comes to our youngest Daisy Scouts — kindergarten and first-graders — and their community service projects, our troop leaders help guide them a little. Otherwise, everything they do would be for puppies and kittens.
Q: What’s most frustrating in your work? Most satisfying?
A: Seeing the inequity of funding for girls in Hawaii versus boys is a major frustration and one where we hope we are closing the gap. … Meanwhile, helping to build the future (female) leaders in our community and the world is extremely satisfying.
