Girl Scout cookie order sheets are currently circulating around southern Maine ”“ and the country, for that matter ”“ marking that special time of year when the bright, colorful rectangular boxes will be making their way into the homes of many, many American families.

The annual cookie sale means Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Tagalongs and Trefoils will be enjoyed by the masses, but the cookies mean more than just good eating to the Girl Scouts who sell them.

In Arundel, Cadet Troop 3240 has the distinction of having sold the most cookies in Maine last year, and they’re looking to make a major impact again.

Selling 4,398 boxes of cookies meant the nine-member troop got to make its annual treks to Hersheypark in Pennsylvania and Camp Pondicherry in Bridgton, as well as complete a number of community service projects.

“Last year, I had to sell over 300 boxes to go to camp for free, and I had to write an essay,” said 12-year-old Brianna Hayes, a student at Thornton Academy Middle School, at the troop’s meeting Wednesday night.

She had some help from her mother, too, who brought a cookie order form to work.

“Everyone swarmed to it, because they love Girl Scout cookies,” Hayes said.

Hayes has had to work on her marketing skills on occasion, though, like the time one of her teachers declined to buy cookies because she is vegan. Hayes told her teacher that a few types of cookies are, in fact, vegan, and the deal was sealed.

Hayes’ favorite, however, was discontinued, the cinnamon Daisy Go Rounds.

Troopmate Louisa Strachan, 13, couldn’t decide between the Thin Mints and Caramel deLites ”“ both equally pleasing, she said.

Although Strachan, a student at Middle School of the Kennebunks, enjoys selling cookies, she said there’s more to being a Girl Scout than just the cookie sales.

“I like doing the community service projects,” she said, “because when you help out the community, you make an impact.”

She also enjoys working on and earning badges and going on the troop’s annual trip and camping.

“You get to do a lot of fun things with Girl Scouts,” she said.

Hayes agreed. And like many, she comes from a long line of scouts.

“All the girls in my family have been in the Girl Scouts,” she said. “My mom was actually in the Boy Scouts,” because she wanted to do more outdoors and learn about camping and living in the wilderness.

A Girl Scout since kindergarten, Hayes said her experience has been great, and the troops of today get to enjoy camping as well as the more traditional Girl Scout activities.

“I like cooking, I like sewing and all the crafty stuff, but I also like going out camping and making fires,” she said.

Kim Grant, 13-year-old daughter of troop leader Cathy Grant, agreed, saying earning camping badges was one of her favorite Girl Scout activities.

“I like making new friends and meeting new people,” she added. “The Girl Scout law tells you to be a sister to everyone.”

Keeping it in the family is also true for the Grants, as Kim’s older sister, 20-year-old Kristen, came up through the ranks herself and now helps out as an assistant leader with her little sister’s troop.

“I like helping them with projects, and I can meet new people,” Kristen said of her work with the troop.

Cathy Grant said seeing both her daughters come through the program has been rewarding, and she’s pleased each one asked to join without any prompting from her ”“ a former Girl Scout herself.

“It teaches them a lot of values,” she said, “to be tolerant and friendly and accept people.”

In addition to the friendships they cultivate as part of the organization, the annual cookie sale is an opportunity to teach the girls responsibility and real-world skills, she said.

“They’ll map out exactly how much money they need” for their projects and trips for the year, Grant said. “It teaches them they have to work for it.

“I don’t want them to think their parents are just going to chip in ”“ things aren’t always going to be given to them in life.”

In addition to improving their financial and analytical skills, the sales also help the girls with communication and interacting with all different people, said troop co-leader Lisa Libby of Saco.

“It’s great for them to learn social skills,” she said. “Their favorite part is the booth sales, (because) they like talking to people.”

Libby said she hopes her daughter, Skyler, continues with the program through high school, as it will help her later in life.

That’s something that the state organization reports is not just an anecdote, but a fact.

Girl Scouts of Maine CEO Joan McDonald said 80 percent of the women who own businesses report being Girl Scouts.

“It proves that Girl Scouts gave these successful women entrepreneurs access to life-changing experiences that inspired them to do something big,” she said in an email. “The Girl Scout cookie sale program, for example, is the number one business literacy program for girls in the nation. As girls participate in the cookie sale activity, they’re learning how to create a business plan, interact with customers and work as part of a team. These are valuable life skills.”

There’s a long list of the benefits of Girl Scouting and what supporting annual cookie sales does to help its young members, leaders say ”“ and if that’s not enough, there’s the taste of those chocolate, caramel, lemon, and now mango, confections to attract Girl Scout cookie followers.

Those who look for the booths each year will start to see Girl Scouts selling cookies in March, as the packages arrive. For more information, visit www.girlscoutsofmaine.org.

— City Editor Robyn Burnham can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 329 or [email protected].