There is always a market for Girl Scout cookies. But the coronavirus pandemic has cooled off sales, leaving more than 144,000 unsold boxes of Thin Mints, S’mores, Samoas and other flavors sitting in Alaska garages.
So, the Girl Scouts of Alaska asked for federal help and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan Monday, The Anchorage Daily News reported. First National Bank Alaska helped push the loan through for the council, which is one of two Girl Scout organizations in the state and covers the southern part of Alaska, the newspaper reported.
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The money is not going to the girls who sell the cookies. The Girl Scouts of Alaska, which has 20 full-time employees and provides camps and scholarships for 3,500 girls, is the recipient of the loan.
Leslie Ridle, head of Girl Scouts of Alaska, said fears of the girls becoming infected with COVID-19 caused the organization to cut its six-week sales season to three weeks, the Daily News reported.
If I had known we were going to be in iso so long I would’ve bought more Girl Scout cookies when I had the chance #IsolationLife #QuarantineLife pic.twitter.com/dhzmTtNNZ3
— milo (@MiloWalkerJr) April 27, 2020
“It was frenzied shopping, and people were hoarding cookies like they were toilet paper," Ridle told the newspaper.
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Ridle said the bank’s loan officer was “amazing," calling at nights and on weekends -- and even on Easter Sunday -- to gather information to make the loan happen.
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With the loan, employees can keep their jobs. For now, they are providing online programs for Girl Scouts, including flamenco dancing and magic trick lessons, the Daily News reported. The girls, meanwhile, are working on their badges. There is a new one now -- a COVID-19 badge that emphasizes good hygiene, the newspaper reported.
“(The loan is) our bridge to keep things going,” Ridle told the Daily News.
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Large companies like ConocoPhillips, GCI and First National Bank Alaska have made big buys of the comfort food to help out.
“I’m confident that once the economy gets up and going, our girls can get back to selling," Ridle told the Daily News.
