Sold for only $6 a box, Girl Guide cookies are more than just a delicious treat.
The money raised through cookie sales help provide diverse and exciting programs and activities for girls, cover camp and event fees, and bring the girls into the community where they can learn life skills.
In September, a new Girl Guides group formed in Fort Frances for those aged 9 to 12.
Girl Guide Leader Stephanie Eleanor says there are only six girls in the group so far, and added that she leads the group with Tara Gunderson.
“The Girl Guide is a pretty amazing organization,” Eleanor said. “There’s a whole training that you do. And it explains the values that they hold. The purpose of Guides is really to empower girls to become leaders and teach about friendships and to help them become the person they want to be as a girl, as a woman, as a female.”
Over the weekend, the newly formed Girl Guide group will be stationed at the Lowey’s Greenhouse and Market Garden Christmas Pop-up to sell chocolate mint cookies; they sold very well, but there’s no need to be dissappointed if you didn’t make it – the group still has plenty of cookies to sell.
In anticipation for the weekend, Eleanor has been working hard to motivate the girls.
“It can be tricky,” she said. “When you have a New Girl Guide group, you start with no money, basically… So to earn money to buy supplies and to do activities with the girls—like if we went camping or if we did something that required money, then the cookies is the only way that we can earn that money.”
In addition to funding activities, proceeds from cookie sales help buy badges for the girls who earn them over time, serving as another motivation to stay engaged.
The new group is not the only Girl Guide group in the area. Another resident named Monica Armour leads the Girl Guide age group branch called “Sparks” and “Embers,” which is for girls as young as 5 years old.
The training process to become a Girl Guide leader is lengthy, but very rewarding and appropriate for the responsibilities.
“I was so impressed with the training that I did,” Eleanor said. “It was so insightful and I learned a lot as a person about how to treat other people. Because some kids may struggle with certain behaviors. The training gives you tools to help you with that, and then the website…it’s just full of all these amazing ideas and information.”
Thinking back to her childhood, Eleanor recalls the importance of having female leaders to look up to, to connect with, who value you, and who want to support your goals in life.
Most girls have support from parents, teachers and other role models; however, the close friendships made in Girl Guides and real-life adventures is irreplaceable.
“I want to take them to a hair salon,” said Eleanor, who listed one of many possible outings she could do with the girls. “There’s quite a few women that own salons in town and [they can] learn what it means to be an owner of a business. And then I want to cook with them, possibly take them to the vet—just to inspire them as to what they can become as a person, and help give direction to their life.”
Eager to break from regular routines and avoid the temptation to spend more time than needed on screens, Eleanor hopes that local organizations or businesses will be willing to host tours or events for the girls.
“Even the police or the jail or just the different areas for the girls to really see what the community is about,” Eleanor said. “Because often, they get up, they go to school, they come home, and there’s lots of time spent on the screen. So this allows them to open their eyes to what’s really going on around them.”
For cookie purchases or information, the local Fort Frances Girl Guides can be reached at 1stfortfrancesguides@gmail.com or by sending a message to Stephanie Eleanor on Facebook.
