One tough cookie

Published 10:44 pm Thursday, January 9, 2014

Some of the world’s youngest entrepreneurs peddling the world’s tastiest products will be hitting the streets starting Saturday.

Big seller: Kristen Boone, 14, of Girl Scout Troop 649, was the best seller of Girl Scout cookies last year. She and other Scouts will begin selling cookies on Saturday. (Tracy Agnew/Suffolk News-Herald)

Big seller: Kristen Boone, 14, of Girl Scout Troop 649, was the best seller of Girl Scout cookies last year. She and other Scouts will begin selling cookies on Saturday. (Tracy Agnew/Suffolk News-Herald)

Girl Scouts will be pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, calling family members and friends, and sending order forms to work with their parents, all with the goal of selling the bliss in a box that is otherwise known as Girl Scout cookies.

The hardest seller in Suffolk will be Kristen Boone of Troop 649 at East End Baptist Church.

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Last year, the 14-year-old Lakeland High School freshman topped all other Scouts in Suffolk by moving 1,233 boxes into the hands of her consumers.

“Once you start, you can’t stop,” said Kristen, whose sweet tooth prefers Samoas.

Incredibly, her 2013 total was a significant reduction from 2012, when she sold about 1,600 boxes. But she has a lofty goal in mind for this year — selling 2,500 or 3,000 boxes.

Kristen said she sells the cookies to her family — her mother, Kier Holland, also her troop leader, is her first and best customer — church members, in school and at cookie booths in front of grocery and retail stores.

Holland, whose personal penchant is for Trefoils, said cookie season is hectic, but it is worth it in the end.

Each troop divides its cookie profits between community service and a fun activity. The troop of about 15 girls went to Great Wolf Lodge last year but hasn’t decided where they’ll go this year, Holland said.

Aside from cookies, Kristen said her favorite part of Girl Scouts is volunteering.

“One year we collected canned goods and we went to the homeless shelter,” she said. “We also cleaned up Virginia Beach.”

Kristen also aims to be the first in her church to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting, which is earned by less than 6 percent of eligible girls nationwide.

In between selling cookies and other Scouting obligations, Kristen also serves as manager for the girls’ basketball team at Lakeland High School.

Girl Scout cookies sell for $3.50 a box. Cookie delivery begins Feb. 20, and booth sales will begin Feb. 23.

The Girl Scout Council of Colonial Coast says the program helps girls learn skills like goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

For hungry folks who just want to learn where to get cookies, a free Cookie Locator app is available this year in the iTunes Store and the Android Marketplace.