NewsBytesCouncilWide
 
This message is being sent to all Service Unit Nuts About Reading Managers, Service Unit Cookie Managers, and Service Unit Managers.
 
Remember to pass this along to your Troop Cookie Managers and to check the Product Program web page of www.gsep.org regularly for updates and previously sent Newsbytes.
 
Reminder: Following our Chain of Communication is Key
Please remember the GSEP Product Program chain of communication, so that questions are answered effectively. The Troop Cookie Manager (TCM) should be in contact with his/her Service Unit Cookie Manager (SUCM). SUCMs should contact GSEP with any questions, according to the list below:
  • Questions pertaining to deliveries, please contact Amanda Harrity at aharrity@gsep.org.
  • Questions pertaining to cookie booths and training, please contact Wendy Dyer-Avis at wdyer-avis@gsep.org.
  • If you are in need of more supplies-including deposit slips, please contact Lindsay Guyer at lguyer@gsep.org. 
  • If you are a SU in the 500's, please note that Amanda Harrity aharrity@gsep.org  is your contact for general questions.
  • If you are a SU in the 600's, please note that Lindsay Guyer lguyer@gsep.org is your contact for general questions.
  • If you are a SU in the 700's, please note that Wendy Dyer-Avis wdyer-avis@gsep.org is your contact for general questions.
 
Cookie Program
The Cookie Program begins on January 14, 2010 and ends on March 7, 2010. 
 
Cookie Prices! GSEP Cookies cost $3.50/box--no higher, and no lower. Our cookie price has been the same for the past seven years. Please pass this along to the troops in your Service Unit.
  
**Reading Area Boscovs**The Cookie Booth Schedule for the three Boscov's stores in Reading has changed. Your troop may have been removed from the Cookie Booth Scheduler due to Boscov's changing of days available for booths. Please select another booth through the "first come, first served" option.
 
Council Cookie Booths: A listing of assigned booths is on the Product Program page of www.gsep.org. 
 
Some council booths may still  be available on the "first come, first served" basis. Keep watching for new locations.  
 
This year, Coventry Mall is a regular cookie booth--please bring your own cookies. 
 
Service Unit Cookie Booths: People are looking for cookies--and they're looking for your booths! We want to help you advertise. Last year we had 30,000 hits on our website for people trying to find cookies. Please fill out this spreadsheet with your Service Unit booth information and email to lguyer@gsep.org.
 
Cookie Cupboards: This year, GSEP will have cookie cupboards available during the last week of the program. There will not be T-8's available at Service Centers nor at Re-order Stations, so make sure your volunteers are able to get T-8's from you, the SUCM.
 
Re-order Stations are posted!  Check out the Product Program web page of www.gsep.org for the listing of Re-order Stations. There is a 50 case/troop/day limit at each Re-Order Station. These transactions will be entered into Snap by GSEP.  
 
**New Re-order Station** A Doylestown re-order station is now available on Tuesdays from 5:30 PM- 8:00 PM, starting January 26, 2010:
 
Doylestown United Methodist Church
320 E Swamp Rd
Doylestown, PA 18901 
 
Cookie Costumes and Incentives to Display! You may obtain cookie costumes and incentives to display from our GSEP Resource Centers at any GSEP Retail Shop. Due to the demand of cookie costumes and incentives, they will be loaned on a limited basis and must be booked in advanced. There is no guarantee of availability. 
 
Older Girl Travel Plan: We are still accepting proposals for the Older Girl Travel Plan. This incentive is for troop trips that are program-based. As soon as you have the information, please send your tenative plan (i.e. itinerary, budget, money making plan, etc.) to Barb Bankert at bbankert@gsep.org. Note: This is not the same as getting council approval and the money earned can be banked for two years.
 
Snap: As you may have already noticed, Troop Balance Summary reports in Snap are showing the total balance due, without accounting for troop proceeds. For the time being, please look at the "Council Due" portion of the report (below the "Troop Proceeds") to find out what you should be depositing. We ask for your patience as this glitch is being fixed by ABC. **Please make sure that you have entered your troop information correctly in Snap--including the number of girls registered and girls selling.  These numbers are important and affect the Troop Balance Summary report.
 
Walk About Day: Sunday, February 7th is Walk About Day. This is an exciting day for girls to get together and go door to door with their cookies. Have troops in your Service Unit create a plan as to how and where they want to spend the day with lots of cookies and order cards in hand. You may even want to keep a vehicle near by to re-stock on cookies if they run out. Special door hangers are being created by GSEP to be sent out to SUCMs, which can, then, be passed along to troops.  These door hangers can be left on houses with the troop's contact information. Remember, people will be home watching the big game--don't fumble this opportunity!
 
Cookies From Home: Many of you received an email a couple weeks ago from Operation Gratitude, which provided detailed information to support the organization's military Care Package program through the purchase of Girl Scout Cookies. We were pleased to work alongside this organization during the December 11-12 Army-Navy Weekend in Philadelphia, when we collected $2,000 in monetary donations to support our Cookies from Home initiative. Through that limited partnership with Operation Gratitude, GSEP will ship approximately 660 boxes of cookies to the organization to add to their regular care-package shipments.  
 
Please be aware that all GSEP troop, individual and volunteer members must continue to follow and use the same guidelines and procedures for Cookies from Home as we've used in the past. This includes partnering with the Liberty USO of Pennsylvania & South Jersey to facilitate our final cookie collections and shipment. Do not reproduce or use any of the promotional materials provided by Operation Gratitude to support your individual, troop and booth sales.
 
We regret any confusion or misunderstanding this may have caused.
 
Keep checking the Product Program web page at www.gsep.org for exciting upcoming cookie events!
 
All registrations should be in!
It has come to our attention that some of the SUCMs are not current on their background clearances and registrations. Please get these renewed ASAP and make sure that your TCMs are all up to date as well. 
 
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