Two years after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, Girl Guides in British Columbia are returning to door-to-door sales of their iconic cookies.
Volunteers were hard at work loading cases of the popular chocolate and vanilla classic sandwich cookies on Saturday, as Guides and their families prepared to return to the traditional form of one of their most important fundraisers.
“When COVID first stuck in 2020 we had just had our cookies delivered in B.C. that week, so we had to quickly pivot to find a way to sell about $4 million in cookies in B.C. Luckily we had lots of retailers step up to help us stock them on store shelves,” said Diamond Isinger, B.C. provincial commissioner for Girl Guides Canada.
Along with placing the cookies on store shelves, Guides also shifted to online sales.
Isinger said sales of the $5 boxes of cookies are crucial for the organization.
The funds they raise go to a variety of programs and activities including trips, sports and art, while the sales process itself has an effect on girls’ developing confidence along with entrepreneurial and money management skills, she said.
“We really see the value in the girls leading our cookie sales,” she said.
“Our girls enjoy selling cookies, they gain really valuable skills and confidence. A lot of our community members like to support specific girls they know, so we’re excited to return back to that method of sales so that girls can achieve their own goals.”
Isinger said along with door-to-door sales, Guides will also be back to setting up cookie booths in public locations.
The return to in-person sales comes less than a week after British Columbia announced the end of virtually all of its COVID-19 restrictions. Masks are no longer mandatory in indoor public places, and the province’s vaccine passport will be scrapped on April 8.
Isinger said with loosened restrictions, the Guides will also be able to return to more of their traditional activities, such as overnight camping and other in-person events.
While the Guides will be selling chocolate and vanilla cookies this spring, Isinger said mint fanatics will have to wait until fall for that popular flavour to return.