Have you heard about CHOC A Lot?  It stands for Cookies Helping Our Community A Lot!

We want your troop to think about who makes a difference in your community. Maybe it's a homeless shelter or a "hometown hero" like volunteer firefighters. Find out more about what they do and see if they would like to partner with your troop on service projects AND would take Girl Scout cookie donations!

Tell your all your customers about CHOC A Lot and let them know they can buy an extra box or two and your troop will donate it to your community partner.

Then, at the end of the sale, your troop takes all of your donated cookies to your CHOC A Lot partner. It's another chance to ask your partner how you can help them in the community.

Take advantage of our anniversary by asking customers to help celebrate our 100th birthday by buying a box of cookies to donate to the CHOC a Lot program! What a great birthday present.

How is your troop using the CHOC A Lot program? Tell us your story and send us photos so we can share your great ideas with other troops: cookies@girlscoutsosw.org.

What a fun year to be a part of the Girl Scout Cookie Program! This year's rewards lineup is pretty spectacular for our 100th birthday and our big cookie sales goal of 2.012 million boxes. Did you know these things about the rewards this year?

• The pewter figurine will be available for purchase in council stores! Because the figurines have our big birthday year of 2012 engraved on them, we wanted EVERY girl to have the opportunity to have one to remember this exciting time for many years to come.
   
• There is a special Girl opt-out option starting at 100 boxes. For girls who feel they may be a bit too old for some of the items, they may choose between the item or extra cookie credit this year.
   
• The 750 level sees another change up! The water park trip this year will be an overnight at the Evergreen Aviation Museum and Water Park in McMinnville, OR for the girl and one adult June 9 &10. The trip includes water park admission Saturday and Sunday, a sleepover in the museum and exclusive Girl Scout only time in the park Sunday morning.
   The other option at this level is the Troop Beverly Hills package, this will be a $150 gift card to a hotel of the girl's choice (that accepts gift cards) for the Girl Scout who would rather not sleep in a tent. You could have a slumber party for your troop!
   
• The Camporee package (for selling 1000 boxes) includes registration fees for the 2012 Girl Scouts OSW Centennial Roundup, plus a gift card to REI or the equivalent for camping gear.
   
• The Past and Present package (for selling 1500 boxes) includes a nice set of pearls, the kind you'll want to store in a safe place and wear on special occasions.
   
• Each 200 boxes you sell you will get one entry into the drawing for 1 of 2 iPads! Make sure to check your sales numbers near the end of sales and see how many boxes it will take to get another entry.
   
• A big concert at the 100th Anniversary Birthday Celebration on August 11 will be FREE if we reach our sales goal of 2.012 million boxes (otherwise tickets will probably be $20- $30). Who's the perfomer? Stay tuned for a big announcement soon!

Wow, it's a great year to be a Girl Scout!