Patches of warm weather weren’t the only cause of green returning to St. Thomas’ campus this March.
Those eye-catching green sashes that signal cookie season are back on campus. Girl Scouts have set up shop around St. Thomas again after concerns about federal activity in Twin Cities neighborhoods in January and February led to a shift in how they sell their cookies.
The Girl Scouts of the Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys allowed scouts to sell cookies online due to safety concerns about having Girl Scouts in areas where federal agents were active.
“A thing our troop is doing is where people who don’t feel safe selling Girl Scout Cookies, we’re selling them for them and then giving them all the money,” AJ said. “So some of the donations that we’re getting are also going to other Girl Scout Troops that aren’t selling Girl Scout Cookies.”
With over 700 federal officers pulled from the state in February, Girl Scout parents like Jay Lukis said he can take his children, AJ and Junia, back to the spots where they love to sell cookies the most — including the St. Thomas quad.
“It’s one of the quickest ways to sell cookies since everyone buys them,” Junia said. “We sell out a lot when we go to colleges.”
The Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys are still providing scouts with another option to sell cookies online instead of their typical door-to-door sales. The scouts implemented a similar system at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But for scouts like AJ, selling these sweet treats in person doesn’t just fund their programming for community projects; it also helps other scouts who might not have the same opportunity.
When not selling cookies at St. Thomas, the Lukis family go to local Cub stores, where they continue to advocate for those impacted by Metro Surge.
“Our family has been fairly active in protesting, and so we are interested in bringing our bodies in the community in ways that support our neighbors,” Jay said. “It’s amazing how often just being in like, Cub Foods, in particular, the amount of smiles and people that walk by and just want to give a donation.”
AJ and Junia, who are 13-year-old twins, are part of Girl Scout Troop 18517. This adventure-based troop is outdoor-focused and is open to scouts of any gender expression, according to Jay.
He said the inclusivity and accessibility of this troop was one of his family’s main draws to the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, as AJ identifies as nonbinary.
St. Thomas junior Eleanor Cummings said that she has seen the Girl Scouts on campus “almost every single day during cookie season, at least four to five times a week,” and that “Thin Mints are an unmatched dessert.”
Carmen Brewers, a St. Thomas junior, said she usually finds the Girl Scouts at the intersection of North and South Campus and sees them “frequently” during cookie season.
“It’s always fun to go to campuses; that’s one of the more fun spots,” Jay said.
St. Thomas community members can look for local Girl Scouts selling cookies in any publicly accessible area of campus until the end of March.
Grace Woelfel can be reached at woel8456@stthomas.edu.
