Selling cookies can be a crummy business. Just ask 400 Girl Scouts in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. They say they are getting a raw deal from their local Girl Scout council. The 27 cookie-selling Scout troops say they need a raise.
Girl Scouts of America has been selling cookies for 69 years. Last year Scouts sold 174 million boxes of thin mints and other goodies.
For each box sold, a troop gets to keep part of the money. A portion also goes to pay the baker. But the local council, which coordinates all Girl Scout activities in its area, keeps the rest. The council uses the money for services and programs, such as maintaining Scout camps.
Last year the 400 Mount Laurel Scouts sold $111,000 worth of cookies (as many as 100 boxes for each Scout). But they got to keep only $15,000, or about 40¢ a box.
This year the Mount Laurel Scouts asked to keep 60¢ a box. They promised to sell an average 110 boxes a Scout.
The council said no but offered 45¢ and some patches. No deal, said the Scouts. In a protest move, these tough cookies decided to sell only 12 boxes each.