Stay Connected

Newsbytes: During the Cookie Program, any volunteer can elect to receive our Newsytes newsletter. Just visit www.gsep.org and click on the eNews sign up on the bottom of the home page. You'll be prompted to enter your email address. Make sure to check “Newsbytes: Product Program Newsletter.”

SUCM Memos: During the Cookie Program, Service Unit Cookie Managers can expect emails to come to them directly from their respective Product Program Manager. These emails will contain information that is not necessarily pertinent for anyone outside of this position. 

Facebook: GSEP Thin Mints: This is our Facebook group where you can post photographs from the 2012 Cookie Program and communicate with other volunteers! Just login to Facebook and add “GSEP Thin Mints” as a friend.

Twitter: @GSEPThinMints: Are you on Twitter? So are we! Receive updates on the Cookie Program by following @GSEPThinMints.

www.gsep.org: Find forms, links and resources for the 2012 Cookie Program under “Cookies and More.” You can also check out our “Cookie Alerts” page to find out about reorder station closings.

Council Sponsored Booth Lottery!

The Council-sponsored Cookie Booth opened today November 29th and will run until  to December 6, 2012. The actual lottery will run on December 7, 2012. Please view the Council-sponsored Cookie Booth Lottery Information Worksheet for step by step instructions and important tips.

This power point will also provide information on how to enter the booth lottery and set up your troops booths into the Cookie Booth Finder: Cookie Booth Tutorial

Also check out our Council-Sponsored Cookie Booth Lottery video to learn how to enter. Remember, the lottery is open for all troops wishing to participate!

2013 Incentive Plans

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls can earn personal incentives while raising money for their troop. Listed below are the various incentive plans offered to individual girls. Are there specific incentives that your Girl Scout hopes to earn?

Cumulative Plan—open to all Girl Scouts  
The Cumulative Plan allows individual girls to receive items such as a stuffed penguin, a yearly Girl Scout Membership voucher and other fun items for girls. These items are cumulative and are based on the number of packages sold by the individual girl (e.g. if a girl sells 300 packages of Girl Scout Cookies, then she will receive a Theme Patch, a 300+ Achievement Bar and all cumulative items up to the 300 package level). This incentive plan includes a Membership Voucher at 200 packages that will expire on October 31, 2013

Adventure Credit Plan—open to all Girl Scouts  
This plan is not cumulative and does include all patches that individual girls have earned. Adventure Credits come in the form of a voucher that can be used toward purchases in GSEP Retail Shops, GSEP Programs/Events, GSEP Summer Camps or Service Unit Neighborhood Day camps. An individual girl must sell at least 200 packages in order to be eligible to receive Adventure Credits. Adventure Credits for the 2012 Cookie Program will expire on October 31, 2013.

Older Girl Travel Plan—open to Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors  
This incentive plan is not cumulative, but does include all patches that individual girls have earned. Qualifying girls will still be invited to the Mystery Tour and the 500 Club Picnics. This plan enables older girls to earn travel money for troop-based programs, trips or Destinations. These monies may be banked and used within two years. Girls must sell at least 500 packages in order to be eligible to receive this incentive option. If your troop is planning to use this incentive, the following must be submitted to Susan Schmalzried by January 1, 2012 at sschmalzried@gsep.org:

• Letter of Intent 
• Number of girls attending  
• Budget  
• Additional money-earning endeavors

Older Girl Extra 5 Cents Proceed Plan—open to Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Troops  
This troop proceed plan should be voted on by the entire troop. If the entire troop elects to receive the Older Girl Proceed Plan, the troop will forego all other incentives other than the patches that the girls have earned. These girls must have a troop PGA of 160 to earn the extra $.05/pkg. Qualifying girls will still be invited to the Mystery Tour and the 500 Club Picnics.

Troop Proceeds  
There are six troop proceed levels based on the average number of packages sold by the total number of girls in the troop. This is known as the per girl average, or PGA.

1 – 129 = $.60/package

130 – 159 = $.65/package

160 – 199 = $.75/package

200 – 299 = $.75/package

200 – 299 = $..80/package 

300+ & up = $.85/package

New cookies

Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania offers eight varieties of Girl Scout Cookies. Here’s this year’s line-up:

Thin Mints: Thin chocolate wafers dipped in a chocolaty coating with a burst of peppermint. 

Peanut Butter Patties®: Crispy vanilla cookies layered with real peanut butter and blanketed with a chocolaty coating.

Caramel deLites®: Vanilla cookies drenched in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and drizzled with cocoa stripes. 

Peanut Butter Sandwich: Smooth peanut butter sandwiched between crunchy oatmeal cookies.

Thanks-A-Lot™: Shortbread cookies dipped in rich fudge and topped with an embossed “Thank You” message in one of five languages.

Lemonades™: Shortbread cookies with a refreshingly tangy lemon icing.

Shortbread: A traditional favorite with a buttery, light flavor.

Mango Cremes™: A coconut sandwhich cookie filled with a mango creme

New in 2013!

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania is excited to divulge our fresh ideas for the 2013 Cookie Program.

• Price Increase
• We are raising the price of the cookies for the 2013 cookie program to $4.00/package.

• Contests and Girl Opportunities
• Look for more information to be posted about new contests and programs we are running this year: We will be continuing the  Bling Your Booth Contest and the 5=52 contest. 
• We will also be adding a new opportunity for girls to show their movie making skills with a training video made for girls, by girls! More information will be released as the Program start date approaches. 
• ACH
• This year we are moving forward with the ACH (Automated Clearing House) initiative. ACH has be launched as a council-wide project with the 2012 Nuts About Reading Program and will continue through the 2013 Cookie Program. If you have a troop that needs to fill out an ACH form, you can locate the form here. 
• District Booths: 
• District Booths will not be offered for the 2013 Cookie Program. We will still be utilizing Council Booths and Service Unit Booths. 

• New Packages
• The packages have been updated for the 2013 Cookie program! 

• New Cookie! 
• We have a new cookie in the line up for this year, Mango Cremes!

Cookie Booths

The timeframe for troops to enter their requests for a Council-sponsored Cookie Booth is from November 29 to December 6, 2012. The actual lottery will run on December 7, 2013. Please view the  Cookie Booth Lottery Power Point for step by step instructions and important tips.

Also check out our Council-Sponsored Cookie Booth Lottery video to learn how to enter. Remember, the lottery is open for all troops wishing to participate!

2013 Cookies

2013 Cookie Program!

2013 Cookie Program: What Can a Girl Do?

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania partners with ABC Bakers for the 2013 Cookie Program. This year’s program will run from January 17 through March 3.

Each year a motivational mascot and theme are selected to unify the program’s focus and efforts.

Theme and Mascot

This year’s Cookie Program theme is What Can a Girl Do? This theme encourages girls to explore the value and benefits from participating in the Cookie Program. 

Meet this year’s mascot animal is a dolphin. Female dolphins are called cows and males are called bulls. Young dolphins are called calves. Dolphins live in schools or pods of up to 12 dolphins. They have excellent hearing and use echolocation to find the exact location of objects. Dolphins are believed to be very intelligent.  

Nuts and Candy Deliveries

Nut and Candy Deliveries

Beginning today,  Service Units will be receiving the Nut/Candy shipments. 

• To help troop pickups run smoothly, we recommend that you use each troop’s T-2 report to sort nuts/candy and incentives. 
• It is important to let your troops know when they can pick up their nut/candy items. Please print off a copy of each troop’s T-2 report to use as a receipt when troops pick up their nuts and candy and make sure they sign the T2 as proof of their pick up. Keep these T-2s with your Service Unit Nuts About Reading paperwork for one year.
• Recognitions are also being delivered this week. Some Service Units have recieved their recognitions last week. 

System Upgrades

• GSEP will be upgrading our email system over the next few weeks. We will not have email services on these specific dates:
• November 17, 2012 - November 18, 2012: Email system will be down for the entire weekend.
• November 22, 2012-November 25, 2012: Email system will be down for the entire holiday weekend.