Author Topic: donate to girl scouts?  (Read 3048 times)

solon

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donate to girl scouts?
« on: March 14, 2017, 12:50:24 PM »
I just discovered you can buy "girl scout" cookies in the grocery store. Keebler has cookies that emulate each Girl Scout cookie, plus most stores have their own store brand of girl scout cookies.

AND THEY'RE HALF PRICE!!

This is great for the pocket book, but not-so-great for the girls selling the cookies.

So which is better? Should I buy Girl Scout cookies, or buy "girl scout" cookies, and donate the difference to the Girl Scouts?

TheAnonOne

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2017, 12:54:00 PM »
Do you really need cookies that bad?

Just write them a check if you really want to support them.

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marielle

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2017, 12:54:39 PM »
Aldi has girl scout knockoffs for 1.39. So...1/3 of the price. And the "thin mints" are mintier. :)

I have no useful information to add to the actual question.

Maybe a 3rd option, donate to another organization?

I'm a red panda

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2017, 01:03:29 PM »
I don't buy girl scout cookies, as they are way too expensive.

I donate to girl scouts, both locally and nationally- through both time and money.

juggleandhope

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2017, 03:44:37 PM »
My friend was disappointed when she joined the Girl Scouts 30+ years ago and found out they didn't get to bake the cookies themselves.  She was even more disappointed when the Girl Scouts marched in the inauguration and decided to stop supporting them in anyway.  I guess she wasn't the only one - as the article below discusses.  The article also quotes the perspective of the organization that it's politically non-partisan and participating in the inauguration parade shouldn't be seen as partisan.   

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/inauguration-2017/girls-scouts-defend-their-involvement-donald-trump-inauguration-n708321

In general making direct donations seems better than paying inflated prices for products. 

Dave1442397

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2017, 06:29:54 PM »
I buy from the girl scouts who haul their wagons full of cookies around the neighborhood, because I like that they work for it. This year I was home for two of them, and we ended up with seven boxes of cookies. That's it 'til next year!

Noodle

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2017, 11:08:40 PM »
I was a Girl Scout and benefited from travel grants that came from cookie money, so I always buy cookies at least once per year. I don't actually care for the cookies much these days, but my co-workers seem to love them! I think of it as a donation where they throw in some cookies rather than a grocery purchase.

Dicey

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2017, 03:32:35 AM »
Yup, me, too! In fact, I'd credit a lot of the things I learned in Girl Scouts as my first steps on the path to FIRE.

Geez*, when I first sold Girl Scout Cookies, they were only fifty cents a box! Of course you can buy them cheaper elsewhere, but that's missing the point. It's about supporting Scouting. The valuable lessons the process teaches are what it's really about.

At the moment, I'm going door-to-door in my downtown area, seeking gift cards from restaurants for our library's annual fundraiser. Another committee member and I are walking together. I'm the one doing most of the talking and our success rate is pretty high. She's amazed by it; I shrug it off and say it's just like selling Girl Scout Cookies. Great life skills!

BTW, another of DH's amazing traits is that he buys them to support his colleague's or the neighbor's kids, so I don't actually have to let any moths out of my wallet, they just magically appear at home. Love that man!**

To solon, I'd say the answer is to do both to whatever level makes your heart happy.

Maybe a 3rd option, donate to another organization?
I don't understand how this answers the OP's question. Why the need for a third option, exactly?

There are costs associated with this program that Aldi (or whomever) doesn't incur, including camperships and other troop support. As an example, it costs far less for a child to be home schooled than to attend public school, because, no teacher or facility costs, or administrative overhead. Should we therefore get rid of public schools? If you're a 'Murican, our healthcare delivery system, or the cost of our prescription drugs are other fine examples.

*I knew when I was writing this it was gonna make me sound old, but fucking auto-correct changed this to "Geezer". Damn, insulted by my own electronic device!

**Want to know more of my I-married-for-the-first-time-and-FIRE(d)-at-54 story? Please visit my journal. I just started it; there's lots more good stuff to come ;-)

I'm a red panda

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2017, 07:35:50 AM »
My friend was disappointed when she joined the Girl Scouts 30+ years ago and found out they didn't get to bake the cookies themselves.  She was even more disappointed when the Girl Scouts marched in the inauguration and decided to stop supporting them in anyway.  I guess she wasn't the only one - as the article below discusses.  The article also quotes the perspective of the organization that it's politically non-partisan and participating in the inauguration parade shouldn't be seen as partisan.   

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/inauguration-2017/girls-scouts-defend-their-involvement-donald-trump-inauguration-n708321

In general making direct donations seems better than paying inflated prices for products.

I appreciate that the national organization let this local council make its own decision- that it has participated, as a means of civic involvement, in inaugurations throughout the years.  It would have been a political move to NOT participate in this one. No girl was forced to march.

As a national organization, they have shown for decades that they don't support the values Trump holds: "God" has been optional in the pledge as long as I remember; anyone identifying as a girl has been allowed to join (men actually can join). Although Girl Scouts does not take political views, they have routinely faced controversy for partnering with organizations such as Girls Inc. which does take a pro-choice stance.

dakota5176

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2017, 07:00:15 AM »
My daughter is in girl scouts and we have been selling a lot of cookies recently.  It is $5 a box for girl scouts of which my daughters troop gets .91 cents.  So if you spend $10 her troop gets less than $2.00.  I think the best think would be to donate.  That is probably the most effective way for everyone.

Warlord1986

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2017, 09:05:40 AM »
Aldi has girl scout knockoffs for 1.39. So...1/3 of the price. And the "thin mints" are mintier. :)


My world is brighter for having found those thin mints in the cookie aisle. Thank you.

I was in Girl Scouts when my father decided I needed to be more social and make friends. The den mother's daughter said something to me one meeting (I honestly forget what she said. We were 8 or 9) and I punched her. I was asked not to come back. On the way home, Mom bought me a milkshake because she didn't like that kid either.

Wrong lesson to teach there, Mom. But yeah, forget the Girl Scouts. Go for the cheaper off-brand cookies.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2017, 09:11:17 AM »
Girl scouts should learn how to bake their own cookies.

The shit they sell in the office is basically a giant MLM/Pyramid Scheme.

alleykat

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Re: donate to girl scouts?
« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2017, 03:40:10 AM »
I only buy if the girls are selling the cookies themselves.  Otherwise, I would not buy them in the store, way too expensive for what you get.  I feel it has become more about brand than anything else. And the fact that they only get less than a dollar on every purchase is less appealing. I thought they got more than that?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!