COLUMBIA, S.C. — A young entrepreneur's stellar Girl Scout cookie sales are serving as a reminder that the organization is about so much more than the sweet treats.
Gia-Imani Thompson is a 9-year-old Brownie - the second level in the Girl Scout Organization - who had just one goal last cookie season.
“I set a goal to get the iPad,” she said.
By the end of this past cookie season, Gia-Imani sold nearly enough boxes to get two.
“Gia-Imani sold the most cookies in the council. She sold over 5,000 boxes - 5,470 to be exact," said one of her troop leaders, Renee Evans.
They are a part of Troop 1359.
The Mountains to Midlands Girl Scout Council accounts for almost half of the state serving over 7,500 girls. Gia-Imani outsold all of them.
“My strategy is, I go to everyone I know first, we went door-to-door, we did it on the internet, we gave some of my family members cookie sheets so they could get some of the people they know, we did a stand- yeah it was at our house," Gia-Imani said.
Evans explained that she did all this while also overcoming the odds brought by an unusual season thanks to COVID-19.
“Considering the struggles and the challenges we had this year with the pandemic, I think that makes this extra special," she said. "Our Brownie troop has never sold this many cookies in the 20 years I’ve been here and to do that during a pandemic pretty much tells me what these girls are capable of.”
So what's Gia-Imani's goal for cookie season next year?
“It depends on what the prizes are,” she said.