Once again, the season of Girl Scout cookie sales is upon the Charleston Community.

The Girls Scouts are currently selling their variety of cookies for $4.00 a box. Community members can choose from a wide selection: lemon-flavored Savannah Smiles, chocolate drizzled caramel and coconut Samoas, Thin Mints, peanut butter sandwich Do-Si-Dos, chocolate coated peanut butter Tag-a-Longs, oatmeal raisin Rah Rah Raisin, and the classic shortbread Trefoil.

Miranda Zerbst, the Service Unit Manager for troops within Charleston and Ashmore, said the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois usually sells around 15,000 boxes, 4,000 to 5,000 of which are usually Thin Mints.

Missy Brown, a parent of a member of Troop 2046, said the troop’s goal is to sell around 3,000 boxes of cookies.

Her troop’s mission statement is “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, character who make the world a better place,” Brown said.

Sarah Trigg, the leader of Troop 2046, said her group uses the profits from selling the cookies for badges, activities and service projects to help the community.

“My troop is hoping to raise enough money to spend the night at the city museum, and also to help the animal shelter with our spring service project,” Trigg said.

Zerbst, the troop leader of Troop 2141 in Charleston, said anyone interested in ordering cookies can contact her at (217) 246-0848 or email her at charlestongirlscouts@yahoo.com. Cash, debit and credit are all accepted forms of payment.

Zerbst said her troop consists of 13 girls, which are considered Cadets of the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois.

Zerbst also manages 522 troops in the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois, which has 11 troops made up of youth from kindergarten through high school. There are currently 10 troops in Charleston, each structured to accommodate a separate grade level.

“I was in Girl Scouts for four years as a girl,” Zerbst said. “I have great memories of my mom being my troop leader, and of going to overnight camps.”

Zerbst said one of the main lessons a Girl Scout hopefully learns is to be confident and try new things regardless of success or failure.

“It gives them the confidence to try new things and set goals, so that they can both become a good leader and work as a team,” Trigg said.

The Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois get to participate in events throughout the year, such as their Girl Scout pinewood derby held every December. In April, the troops will be teaming up with Mattoon to host an anime/sci-fi convention.

“We try to expose these girls to places, activities, and ideas that they might not get through other venues in their lives,” Zerbst said.

Lynnsey Veach can be reached at 581-2812 or at lmveach@eiu.edu.