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Girl Scout Cookies Are Back!

MIQUON, Pa., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) kicks off its 2010 Cookie Program this week. With more than 41,000 girl members and 14,000 volunteers in its nine-county service region, GSEP has a goal of selling 4 million boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year. GSEP's 2010 Cookie Program runs from January 14 through March 7. An online Cookie Locator Tool helps customers find booths and sales activities in their communities - http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080312/DC16476LOGO-a )

GSEP's Cookie Program consistently ranks among the most successful in the nation. Last year, while many U.S. councils struggled with proceeds that were down by as much as 5 percent, GSEP Girl Scouts sold more than 3.8 million boxes - which triggered an 11 percent increase over 2008 sales, far exceeded the Council's 2009 goal, and significantly subsidized the costs of programming to benefits girls and troops.

Proceeds from any council's Cookie Program remain in and directly support its service area. Girl Scouts accrue and apply a portion of the proceeds from their individual and troop sales to a range of community causes or incentives:

    --  one GSEP troop used its 2009 proceeds to purchase holiday food items for
        people in-need
    --  another helped fund a summertime pilgrimage to the Savannah,
        Georgia-birthplace of Girl Scouting-founder Juliette Gordon Low
    --  others apply proceeds to the cost of domestic and international travel
        destinations, where they can meet Girl Scouts from around the world and
        experience diverse cultures first-hand

Another key element of GSEP's annual Cookie Program is Cookies from Home, which encourages customers to purchase additional boxes of Girl Scout Cookies for shipment to military personnel serving overseas. During last month's Army-Navy game weekend in Philadelphia, GSEP got a jump-start on its Cookies from Home initiative and collected $2,000 from avid football fans in town for the annual rivalry. The donations will support an overseas shipment of 660 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, and a portion of the proceeds will help send daughters of active military personnel to Girl Scout Camp next summer. Cookies from Home collections continue throughout the two-month program.

No university has produced as many female business owners as the Girl Scout Cookie Program, which is the largest girl-led business in the country and generates more than $700 million for girls and communities nationwide. Girls who participate in the Cookie Program develop five essential skills - goal-setting, decision-making, money management, interpersonal skills, and business ethics. Many of today's successful businesswomen say they got their start selling Girl Scout Cookies.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania is the largest girl-serving organization in Pennsylvania. It serves more than 41,000 girls and 14,000 volunteers in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia counties. Today, 80 percent of women in leadership and executive roles in the U.S. and 70 percent of women in the U.S. Congress are Girl Scout alumnae. For more information about GSEP, its 2010 Cookie Program and other activities, visit the website (www.gsep.org) or call (1-888 / 215) 564-4657.

    CONTACT:       Betsy Taube
                    Acting Communications
                    Manager
                   btaube@gsep.org

                   Barbara Bankert
                    Director of Product
                    Program
                   215.564.2030, x1026

SOURCE Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania