MOLI VIEW™

On Saturday afternoon, as I walked past the ranch houses of La Paloma — my scrappy little neighborhood in Miami — I heard dulcet voices shouting from a side street: "Do you want Girl Scout cookies? Do you want Girl Scout cookies?"

There was Ms. Mathena Mitchell, leader of Troop #1040, pushing a cart full of boxes of Thin Mints, Trefoils, and Do Si Dos (those peanut butter ones). Surrounding her was a gaggle of Girl Scouts (grade four and up), Brownies (grades one through three), and little tiny Daisies (kindergarten). They were rolling the cart down the La Paloma side streets, like old-fashioned vendors, hawking their wares.

Saaliyah, 8, seemed to be the spokesperson for the group. Tall for her age, with thick coils of braids framing her eager face, she stood right in front of me and asked again: "Do you want Girl Scout cookies?"

The rest of the troop, including Jasmine, 7, Shakia, 6, and Aurora, 5, surrounded me. It was my money or my Do-Gooder status.

"Thin mints, please," I said, to a joyous roar.

I was not the only victim. As many as 200 million Girl Scout cookies are sold each year, adding up to as much as $700 million in revenue for the young ladies each year.

What do the Girl Scouts do with all that money?

"Good things for other people," says Saaliyah.

"It's for a good cause," adds Jasmine, nodding her head sagely.

"Tell her about the canned goods drive and the volunteering," Ms. Mitchell reminded her charges.

In fact, the revenue from Girl Scout cookies goes to each of the 300-odd independent Girl Scout Councils that run the cookie sale each year, to cover program expenses and train local volunteers like Ms. Mitchell to run the Scout meetings and take them out on expeditions.

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