The 2011 Girl Scout Cookie program starts Saturday with Girl Scouts going door-to-door to take orders. Cookies will be delivered the third week of February, and cookie booths begin Feb. 18.

The cookies will be available in eight varieties: Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Lemon Chalet Crèmes, Do-Si-Dos, Trefoils, Dulce de Leche, Thank You Berry Munch and Samoas, which celebrate their 35th birthday this year. Each box is $3.50. To find a girl selling near you, call the cookie hotline at 340-YUMM.

You can purchase cookies for a great cause through the Gift of Caring/Hometown Heroes program, through which Girl Scouts give donated boxes of cookies to the heroes of their choice.

The official Gift of Caring/Hometown Heroes organization is the USO, through which thousands of boxes of cookies are sent to military men and women each year. Some girls choose to give their Gift of Caring/Hometown Heroes boxes to local worthy groups such as police departments, shelters and hospitals.

The Girl Scout Cookie program not only provides the public with their favorite sweet treats but it teaches girls important life skills in money management, goal setting and following through on a commitment.

Proceeds from the program support local Girl Scout activities, such as community service projects and travel opportunities, as well as services offered by the Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast to nearly 16,000 girls and more than 5,000 adult volunteers in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

To find our more, visit www.gsccc.org or call 1-800-77SCOUT.