March 28, 2026 • 7 mins
We spoke with Elicia Pegues Spearman CEO of the Girls Scouts of CT about a new girl scout cookie and that cookie season is underway.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Allison Demrz. It's my pleasure to have with me today.
Alicia Pegee Spearman. She is Chief executive officer at the
Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning, Good morning, Alison. Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So Cookie season is in full force and we're going
to talk about that, but first let's talk about what
are the benefits of becoming a Girl Scout.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh my goodness, We've been around for one hundred and
fourteen years and our mission is to build girls of courage,
confidence and character who make the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Absolutely, I was a Brownie, a Girl Scout, a Daisy. Actually,
I don't think I was a Daisy. I don't think
Daisy's were around then. I don't want to give away
my age, but my kids were Daisies, Brownies, and Girl Scouts.
We love the Girl Scouts.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That is awesome because we go from kindergarten Daisies all
the way up to Cadet Senior Ambassador's twelfth grade. From
kindergarten twelfth grade, you can be involved with the Girl Scouts,
which really helps our youth develop a unique leadership experience.
They get a strong sense of self, learn positive values,
explore new interests, build healthy relationships. And one of my
(01:11):
favorites is we help solve problems in the local communities
where the Girl Scouts live. And so that's a lot
of fun to get back to the community.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Let's talk about the foundation of the Girl Scouts leadership experience.
It centers around four pillars.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Oh, absolutely, Steam, entrepreneurship, life skills, and outdoors. So you
know what steam is, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, entrepreneurship. Hey,
when you all buy those cookies, you are supporting the
largest girl led entrepreneurial program in the world, and that's
our cookie sellers. And in life skills, you know some
(01:46):
of the basic things. How do you change a higher outdoors?
How do you start a fire? You never know where
you're going to be. We want to make sure that
our girls with part of life skills is civic advocacy.
There's just so much we do around our four pillars
to make sure that our girls are great human beings
and contribute to our society.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Absolutely. What varieties of cookies are going to be available.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, we have our new cookie explore more. First of all,
I love the name because Girl Scouts explore. Yeah, but
you know the spirit and exploration of every Girl Scout,
and that's inspired by the Rocky Road ice cream flavor.
So it's filled with chocolate marshmallow and toasted almond flavor
cream and are really punchy, really punchy sandwich cookies. So
I love chocolate, so that's good. But then we have
(02:31):
lots of other flavors of Venture foals, lemon ups which
actually I know I'm the CEO, but I just tried
the limon ups and they really are good because I
didn't want anything that was too lemony, and it's just
enough limon but not too much. Yeah yeah, I mean.
But Trefles Docy does Samoa's Tagalong tin mints, and we
also have gluten free toffee Tastics, so we've got a
(02:52):
lot of different cookies for you.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I don't know anybody who doesn't love a Girl Scout
cookie or doesn't throw the thin mints and the freezer
there's oh good, all of that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh my gosh, they're so good in the freezer. Yummy, yummy, yummy,
And you know what somebody told me, put them in
the freezer, then punch them over some ice cream glad
to try that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh yes, So how are the Girl Scout cookie proceeds used?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
All the proceeds stay in Connecticut to benefit our Girl Scouts.
So anybody who purchases Girl Scouts cookies from Girl Scouts,
they're giving back to the community because many of the
troops put a portion of their cookie receeds towards service
projects in their local regions. So they do service projects,
they plan trips, so whatever activities they want to do,
they're saving up boards. That's why they're out there selling
(03:36):
their cookies. And we sold over one point seven million
packages last year.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I believe it. How much is a box of Girl
Scout cookies.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Six dollars six dollars And if you're on a diet,
it's okay buy them and we can you can donate
the cookies. Yeah, you can donate the cookies to our
Gift of Carrying Service project that's Cookies for Heroes, and
that is really good because those cookies go to active
military men and women, veterans and local community heroes. So
you can imagine right now they would love to have
some Girl Scout cookies. So donate to the wells and
(04:05):
the boxes get shipped directly to them.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I love that idea. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, last year we sold ninety thousand packages for cookies
for heroes, and I want to beat that record. So
if you all can help me, go online to www
dot gs OFCT dot org and find a cookie booth
near you, or you know, find one of our links
and buy some cookies.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
So at what age can girls you mentioned before kindergarten
can they become members and part of the cookie program.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, we started early as Girl Scout daisies, which is kindergarten.
We go all the way through twelfth grade as Girl
Scout Ambassas, and then you know, when you graduate, you
can still also be a member because you can volunteer.
We have troop leaders, we have mentors. So once a
Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. I was a Brownie,
you were a Brownie, and now I'm the CEO, and
now look at what you're doing. So we're everywhere in Connecticut.
(04:57):
One in six women in Connecticut have been a Girl Scout. Really,
mm hmmm hm.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Do you have any events that are coming up soon?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
We have so many events. I mean right now the
girls are registering for Really the focus is cookie sales
and booth cells. But also girls will registering for camp.
We have lots of camps around the state of Connecticut
and we've got a revised camp or renovated Camp Yankee Trails,
so our camps have been updated, so there's lots of
good stuff. Go to our website dsosct dot org and
(05:28):
find out about all the good things that we're doing.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So some cookies have already been delivered if you've ordered them,
but they can still be ordered online or people can
still get them now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Listen, this is really important. They can be ordered right now.
But we're going to stop at April nineteen. So cookie
booths are all over the state of Connecticut from March fourteenth.
They've been selling them to April nineteenth, but after that
we're done, so we only have a cookie season. I
say that because every time people see me, family friends,
church members are like, can you give me a box cookies?
(06:00):
And I'm like, I don't walk around or carry them
in my car. So everybody support my girl scouts. Buy
the cookies right. You can order them online for shipping today.
It's about the end of the cookie season. But if
you can't wait for your cookies to arrive, go to
our website and click on the cookie. It's a little
cookie icon into your zip code and then you can
see where the local shoots are selling cookies.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That's fantastic. You know, it's almost unfair, like a cruel
joke that God wouldn't let us buy Girl Scout cookies
all year long. But I guess you know we're lucky
to get it at all.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, you know, the girls get other things to do.
They earn their badges, silver Bronze and Gold award badges.
They're doing activities, so you know, they don't want to
sell all year long. But when they're selling right now,
they've got goal they set whether they want to sell
two hundred and fifty packages, a thousand packages. And you
know they're pretty hardcore. They know how to They learn
(06:51):
customer service skills, money management, talking to customers. So it's
really a good time for our Girl Scouts. So come on, y'all,
everybody in connecticuts to buy one box cookies. That would
be great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Absolutely. You know, I forgot that they were so busy
when they're selling cookies. It's a business. They're little entrepreneurs,
you know, so I forgot how could they possibly do
that all year with everything else that they do.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It's funny and businesses. Now, I find people who are
great salespeople. And they said, when I was a Girl Scout,
my parents knew I was going to be a salesperson
because of the way I handle my cookie business. So yeah,
I love. It's so true. We have many entrepreneurs learning
many great skills that they can use later in life.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Absolutely. I'm speaking with Alicia Pegeeze Spearman. She is Chief
executive officer at the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. For more
information about anything becoming a Girl Scout getting some cookies,
go to gsofct dot org. Alicia, thank you so much
for being here today.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Thank you for having us, and I'll send you some cookies.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I'm
Allison Demrz. It's my pleasure to have with me today.
Alicia Pegee Spearman. She is Chief executive officer at the
Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning, Good morning, Alison. Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So Cookie season is in full force and we're going
to talk about that, but first let's talk about what
are the benefits of becoming a Girl Scout.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh my goodness, We've been around for one hundred and
fourteen years and our mission is to build girls of courage,
confidence and character who make the world a better place.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Absolutely, I was a Brownie, a Girl Scout, a Daisy. Actually,
I don't think I was a Daisy. I don't think
Daisy's were around then. I don't want to give away
my age, but my kids were Daisies, Brownies, and Girl Scouts.
We love the Girl Scouts.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
That is awesome because we go from kindergarten Daisies all
the way up to Cadet Senior Ambassador's twelfth grade. From
kindergarten twelfth grade, you can be involved with the Girl Scouts,
which really helps our youth develop a unique leadership experience.
They get a strong sense of self, learn positive values,
explore new interests, build healthy relationships. And one of my
(01:11):
favorites is we help solve problems in the local communities
where the Girl Scouts live. And so that's a lot
of fun to get back to the community.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Let's talk about the foundation of the Girl Scouts leadership experience.
It centers around four pillars.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Oh, absolutely, Steam, entrepreneurship, life skills, and outdoors. So you
know what steam is, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, entrepreneurship. Hey,
when you all buy those cookies, you are supporting the
largest girl led entrepreneurial program in the world, and that's
our cookie sellers. And in life skills, you know some
(01:46):
of the basic things. How do you change a higher outdoors?
How do you start a fire? You never know where
you're going to be. We want to make sure that
our girls with part of life skills is civic advocacy.
There's just so much we do around our four pillars
to make sure that our girls are great human beings
and contribute to our society.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Absolutely. What varieties of cookies are going to be available.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, we have our new cookie explore more. First of all,
I love the name because Girl Scouts explore. Yeah, but
you know the spirit and exploration of every Girl Scout,
and that's inspired by the Rocky Road ice cream flavor.
So it's filled with chocolate marshmallow and toasted almond flavor
cream and are really punchy, really punchy sandwich cookies. So
I love chocolate, so that's good. But then we have
(02:31):
lots of other flavors of Venture foals, lemon ups which
actually I know I'm the CEO, but I just tried
the limon ups and they really are good because I
didn't want anything that was too lemony, and it's just
enough limon but not too much. Yeah yeah, I mean.
But Trefles Docy does Samoa's Tagalong tin mints, and we
also have gluten free toffee Tastics, so we've got a
(02:52):
lot of different cookies for you.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I don't know anybody who doesn't love a Girl Scout
cookie or doesn't throw the thin mints and the freezer
there's oh good, all of that.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Oh my gosh, they're so good in the freezer. Yummy, yummy, yummy,
And you know what somebody told me, put them in
the freezer, then punch them over some ice cream glad
to try that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh yes, So how are the Girl Scout cookie proceeds used?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
All the proceeds stay in Connecticut to benefit our Girl Scouts.
So anybody who purchases Girl Scouts cookies from Girl Scouts,
they're giving back to the community because many of the
troops put a portion of their cookie receeds towards service
projects in their local regions. So they do service projects,
they plan trips, so whatever activities they want to do,
they're saving up boards. That's why they're out there selling
(03:36):
their cookies. And we sold over one point seven million
packages last year.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
I believe it. How much is a box of Girl
Scout cookies.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Six dollars six dollars And if you're on a diet,
it's okay buy them and we can you can donate
the cookies. Yeah, you can donate the cookies to our
Gift of Carrying Service project that's Cookies for Heroes, and
that is really good because those cookies go to active
military men and women, veterans and local community heroes. So
you can imagine right now they would love to have
some Girl Scout cookies. So donate to the wells and
(04:05):
the boxes get shipped directly to them.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
I love that idea. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, last year we sold ninety thousand packages for cookies
for heroes, and I want to beat that record. So
if you all can help me, go online to www
dot gs OFCT dot org and find a cookie booth
near you, or you know, find one of our links
and buy some cookies.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
So at what age can girls you mentioned before kindergarten
can they become members and part of the cookie program.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, we started early as Girl Scout daisies, which is kindergarten.
We go all the way through twelfth grade as Girl
Scout Ambassas, and then you know, when you graduate, you
can still also be a member because you can volunteer.
We have troop leaders, we have mentors. So once a
Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. I was a Brownie,
you were a Brownie, and now I'm the CEO, and
now look at what you're doing. So we're everywhere in Connecticut.
(04:57):
One in six women in Connecticut have been a Girl Scout. Really,
mm hmmm hm.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Do you have any events that are coming up soon?
Speaker 2 (05:07):
We have so many events. I mean right now the
girls are registering for Really the focus is cookie sales
and booth cells. But also girls will registering for camp.
We have lots of camps around the state of Connecticut
and we've got a revised camp or renovated Camp Yankee Trails,
so our camps have been updated, so there's lots of
good stuff. Go to our website dsosct dot org and
(05:28):
find out about all the good things that we're doing.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So some cookies have already been delivered if you've ordered them,
but they can still be ordered online or people can
still get them now.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Listen, this is really important. They can be ordered right now.
But we're going to stop at April nineteen. So cookie
booths are all over the state of Connecticut from March fourteenth.
They've been selling them to April nineteenth, but after that
we're done, so we only have a cookie season. I
say that because every time people see me, family friends,
church members are like, can you give me a box cookies?
(06:00):
And I'm like, I don't walk around or carry them
in my car. So everybody support my girl scouts. Buy
the cookies right. You can order them online for shipping today.
It's about the end of the cookie season. But if
you can't wait for your cookies to arrive, go to
our website and click on the cookie. It's a little
cookie icon into your zip code and then you can
see where the local shoots are selling cookies.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That's fantastic. You know, it's almost unfair, like a cruel
joke that God wouldn't let us buy Girl Scout cookies
all year long. But I guess you know we're lucky
to get it at all.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Well, you know, the girls get other things to do.
They earn their badges, silver Bronze and Gold award badges.
They're doing activities, so you know, they don't want to
sell all year long. But when they're selling right now,
they've got goal they set whether they want to sell
two hundred and fifty packages, a thousand packages. And you
know they're pretty hardcore. They know how to They learn
(06:51):
customer service skills, money management, talking to customers. So it's
really a good time for our Girl Scouts. So come on, y'all,
everybody in connecticuts to buy one box cookies. That would
be great.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Absolutely. You know, I forgot that they were so busy
when they're selling cookies. It's a business. They're little entrepreneurs,
you know, so I forgot how could they possibly do
that all year with everything else that they do.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
It's funny and businesses. Now, I find people who are
great salespeople. And they said, when I was a Girl Scout,
my parents knew I was going to be a salesperson
because of the way I handle my cookie business. So yeah,
I love. It's so true. We have many entrepreneurs learning
many great skills that they can use later in life.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Absolutely. I'm speaking with Alicia Pegeeze Spearman. She is Chief
executive officer at the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. For more
information about anything becoming a Girl Scout getting some cookies,
go to gsofct dot org. Alicia, thank you so much
for being here today.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Thank you for having us, and I'll send you some cookies.
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