As you munch down on your favorite Girl Scout cookie, Thin Mints, you see your friend pull out another box of Samoas. Your hunger is quenched, but you’re longing for more. Running through the halls, you’re looking for nearby Girl Scouts to sell you additional cookies. You find one perched down handing out more peanut-butter-filled Tagalongs and caramelly Samoas. Unfortunately, as you lay on your couch in 2021, you wonder if that elated and yummy feeling will come around this year because of COVID-19. 

The Northern California Girl Scouts have been selling cookies since Jan. 23 and are supposed to continue till March 14. According to the Girl Scouts website, they have a wide variety of cookies consisting of Thin Mints, Lemon-Ups, Lemonades, Shortbread, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Toffee-tastic, Caramel Chocolate Chip, Girl Scout S’more, and a new cookie: Toast-Yay! Like most events and traditions over the last year, cookie selling is now going virtual. 

According to the Northern California Girl Scout website, “Contact your favorite Girl Scout. She’ll have a link to her Digital Cookie storefront to share, where you can order cookies for contactless girl delivery or have them shipped directly to you.” Contacting a local Girl Scout or troop is among the many ways one can obtain cookies. Cookie-lovers can also order from GrubHub or use the GSNorCal online shop locator on their website.

Since the pandemic has brought up new obstacles, some troops have reduced the pressure and requirements regarding cookie-selling. “This year, my troop is making cookie-selling more optional than usual. Normally, we would try to have each girl sell at least a few boxes and go to cookie booths in front of stores, but this year we are only selling a few if we want to. So far, we have been selling cookies online through websites, meeting customers at a location for them to pick up cookies, or driving to customers’ houses to deliver them,” senior and Girl Scout Aine Flynn said. 

The cookie-selling-season is intoxicating because of the sugary cookies filling up many’s agenda, but let’s not forget that Girl Scout troops have not gone without their struggles during the pandemic. For many troops, the social aspect of interacting with customers and building relationships is absent during the pandemic. “The biggest struggle has been making selling Girl Scouts a fun, social experience for customers. Previously, I was able to start conversations with neighbors and catch up with old friends, but now I just send them my storefront link and do contactless delivery, so I can’t see any of my supporters in person, really,” junior and Girl Scout Isabelle Bennet said. 

“My favorite [cookie] is thin mints. It is unfortunate that there will be less access to Girl Scout cookies [this year], but I’m glad they are still able to sell cookies and stay safe,” junior Emma Wirz said.

Some troops have chosen not to participate in the cookie-selling season altogether but have still found ways to be present and helpful in their community. “We opted not to sell cookies this spring because most of our sales usually come from peers at Miramonte. However, our troop has continued to have regular Zoom meetings, where we plan ways that we can serve the community. We recently assembled food boxes for the Monument Crisis Center to distribute to families struggling during the pandemic,” senior and Girl Scout Olivia Eukel said. 

As you sit on the couch and ponder how you will procure the powdery and yummy-filled cookies this year, you look on Instagram and happen to see a local Girl Scout advertising cookie-selling on her Instagram story. You instantly DM her, asking to order numerous boxes of flavorful and crunchy cookies, and once again, the euphoric and nostalgic feeling is back again but in a different way.