What Happens To Unsold Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scouts sell around 200 million boxes of cookies each year. Troops who participate in the cookie program typically begin selling in January, with sales usually wrapping up around March or April, depending on the region. But at the end of the selling season, what happens to any unsold Girl Scout cookies? With how popular these treats are, it seems hard to believe that troops could be left with unsold boxes. However, it happens occasionally due to regional or community-specific challenges like poor weather, tight budgets, or competition from less expensive Girl Scout cookie dupes. Luckily, leftover cookies never go to waste, with each troop making sure that boxes of Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and more find their way to the right place. 

Each Girl Scout council is responsible for deciding what to do with unsold cookies. Some may be sent to other troops who are selling more than usual. Other troops may even continue selling cookies past the usual seasonal cut-off point in hopes of reaching their goals for the year. Unsold Girl Scout cookies can also be donated at the discretion of the local council. As the Girl Scouts of the United States of America website states, "If a council or a troop has cookies left at the end of the season, GSUSA encourages them to work with local food pantries and other charitable organizations to distribute cookies as a special treat for people seeking food relief services." 

Of course, if you somehow end up with leftover cookies of your own, you can freeze them. Otherwise, turn your favorite Girl Scout cookies into an icebox cake.

Customers can also donate cookies to local charities or military personnel through the Girl Scouts' Gift of Caring or Cookie Share programs. Through the Gift of Caring program, customers are able to donate money to their local Girl Scout troop during its cookie selling season. The troop will then use that donation to purchase cookies to distribute to military personnel, community organizations, and essential workers through its partners, like the USO, Soldiers Angels, Hometown Heroes, and the like. You can donate in person, via phone or online through any troop's Digital Cookie sales site.

Some Girl Scout troops may also oversee a Care to Share program on a council-by-council basis. Much like Gift of Sharing, this Cookie Share program allows community members to donate boxes of Girl Scout cookies to a charitable organization chosen by the local council. Whether you're not buying cookies for yourself this year, or just want to buy additional ones to donate, your local troop's Director of Product Program can help you make a donation. These boxes can then be donated to local food banks, veterans organizations, shelters, and beyond. The troop will still get credit for the sale of the boxes, and you'll also be helping out others members of your community.