From saving for an island vacation to purchasing new uniforms, Girl Scouts have big plans for their cookie sales money.

“Girl Scouts is all about being girl-led,” said Darby Petitt of Highlands Ranch, a troop leader for nine years who has two daughters in Girl Scouts. “It’s always fun to see how and what they choose their Girl Scout experience to look like.”

The Girl Scout Cookies Program helps girls develop five lifelong skills — goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

“Girl Scout Cookie time is all about teaching girls lifelong business skills,” said Stephanie Foote, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Colorado, in a press release. “The proceeds from these girl-led businesses go to fund all the adventures you get to have as a Girl Scout.”

Reagan Petitt, 13, has been a Girl Scout for nine years. She enjoys cookie sales because she gets to meet new people, but also because it teaches her self-confidence, to accept the answer no when people don’t want to buy cookies and to set goals for herself.

She and her sister Camryn Petitt, 10, who has been a Girl Scout for six years, each have a goal to sell 350 packages. The two expect that they’ll do some door-to-door sales together and booth sales with their individual troops.

“I like talking to people, and I like trying to get people to buy the cookies,” Camryn Petitt said. “And I like planning what to do with the money.”

For the past few years, 15-year-old Makayla Kinard of Arvada has come close to meeting her goal of 2,000 boxes.

"This year," she said, "I'm going to hit that goal."

Kinard has been a Girl Scout for nine years and will use this year's cookie money to attend Girl Scout Camp, as well as use a portion of it to fund her Gold Award project — she hopes to host her inaugural golf tournament, which become an annual event, this summer to benefit people who have Type 1 diabetes.

"Everyone loves cookies," said Denver resident Bianca Morris, 9, who has been a Girl Scout for two years and is selling cookies for the second time.  "They're delicious."

But, you can only get them at one time during the year, Morris added.  She said she is most looking forward to booth sales becuase she enjoys talking with the people who are out shopping. 

Morris has a goal to sell 1,000 packages of cookies. She and the other 10 girls in her troop are going to spend some their cookie money to purchase supplies for the troop, save some of it for a future trip and donate some of it to local schools that have a population of children who are disabled.

Rhianna Dains, 14, of Westminster has been a Girl Scout for 10 years and she and her troop of eight will be using their cookie sales money to pay for a troop trip to the Bahamas to scuba-dive.

It started last year when the girls in the troop decided they wanted to get scuba certified, Dains said. They did that, she said, and now they’re saving for the diving trip in the Bahamas in 2020.

Cookie sales “is a fun experience for the whole troop because it’s something we can all get involved with,” Dains said. “We’re a team, and our troop can accomplish it together.”

Want cookies? Here’s how …

Girl Scouts across Colorado will be selling cookies from Feb. 3 to March 10.

Girl Scouts will be going door-to-door, but consumers can also purchase cookies from booths set up in front of major retail and grocery stores. The Cookie Locator, online or mobile app, can help people find local booth sales locations. Sales can also be done online through the Digital Cookie, but to purchase cookies online, you need an invite to shop on a Girl Scout’s personal Digital Cookie website.

This year’s selection of cookies is Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Trefoils, Do-Si-Dos, Savannah Smiles and a limited quantity of S’mores and Toffee-tastics.

All Girl Scout cookies contain zero grams of trans fat per serving, Thin Mints are vegan, Do-Si-Dos and Trefoils have no hydrogenated oils and Toffee-tastics are gluten-free. More information about Girl Scout Cookie ingredients can be found at www.littlebrownie.com.

S’mores and Toffee-tastic sell for $5 a package and all other varieties cost $4 a package.

Consumers can also purchase a package of cookies to donate to the individual Girl Scouts troops’ hometown hero. Each Girl Scout troop chooses a hometown hero — any local nonprofit organization or uniformed personnel — to honor by donating packages of Girl Scout cookies. The troops choose their hometown hero prior to cookie sales beginning, so to participate, remember to ask about the Hometown Heroes/Gift of Caring program.

For more information on Girl Scout Cookie sales, visit www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org.