By: Riley Click
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — Girl Scout cookie season is underway across Northwest Arkansas, marking one of the organization’s largest annual fundraisers to help support leadership programs and educational opportunities for Girl Scouts across the country.
At the University of Arkansas, the sorority Kappa Delta Zeta Gamma is working with local Girl Scout troops to support those efforts through community cookie sales hosted at its chapter house.
The sorority held its first sale of the semester Feb. 26, where members of Girl Scout Troop 5713 sold 1,911 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. The troop is raising money to help fund a trip to the 2026 Girl Scout National Convention in Washington, D.C.
“This year and the past couple years we’ve been saving up for a trip to Washington, D.C., to go to the Girl Scout National Convention this summer,” said Ophelia Harp, a member of Troop 5713.
Kappa Delta’s partnership with the Girl Scouts is part of the sorority’s national philanthropy. The Zeta Gamma chapter focuses on supporting leadership development and confidence-building opportunities for girls.
Brooke Perry, director of Girl Scouts for Kappa Delta, said cookie sales play a major role in funding activities and programs for troops.
“We work with the Girl Scouts as part of our philanthropy and one of their big initiatives that they do is to sell cookies which helps fund all of the things that they do and all of their trips” Perry said. “It’s a good way for us to help them support their goals.”
Funds raised through cookie sales support troop activities such as travel opportunities, community service projects and educational programming, according to Girl Scouts of the USA. The cookie program also gives scouts hands-on experience with goal setting and entrepreneurship.
Troop members said hosting cookie sales at the Kappa Delta house allows them to reach more potential customers in the community.
“I feel like it gets put out more in the community than it does if we’re at Walmart,” said Kaitlyn Gilmore, a member of Girl Scout Troop 5713.
Another cookie sale is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the sorority’s chapter house at 404 W. Maple St. in Fayetteville. The event will feature another local Girl Scout troop participating in the sale, with both walk-up purchasing at the front of the house and a drive-through option in the back parking lot.
The event is part of the ongoing Girl Scout cookie season, which runs annually and supports programming for troops across the region.
Information about the Girl Scout Cookie Program was provided by Girl Scouts of the USA.