When it comes to selling Girl Scout cookies, 11-year-old Diana Zorek has the winning recipe.
The Upper West Side tween sold 2,537 boxes this year, earning her the title of top cookie-seller for the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.
With her dad Michael in tow, Diana pounded the pavement, approaching people as they entered H&H Bagels and waited on long lines at Times Square.
Then she tapped into a group of people she knew could never turn down a good cookie.
“One thing that came to mind was college kids,” said Diana, who attends P.S. 9 in Manhattan. “We went to Columbia University.”
She gave out fliers with all the information students needed to order cookies online. They snapped up boxes of cool Thin Mints, peanut buttery Tagalongs, chewy Samoas and brand new S’mores.
Not only did the local Columbia students buy cookies but they shared Diana’s sales pitch with friends across the country.
“We got orders from people in Michigan, Minnesota, California – all over,” she said.
This year, Girl Scouts who sold more than 500 boxes were invited to serve on the cookie executive committee where they brainstorm and discuss best practices and ways to mentor other girls. Joining that committee was one of Diana’s goals, though winning a MacBook Air for being the top seller wasn’t so bad either, she said.
Diana and other members of Troop 3209 also donated some of their profits to purchase toiletries for women at a local homeless shelter.
In all, more than 1.4 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies were sold by Greater New York Scouts across the city during the 2016-17 season, which also marked the group’s 100th anniversary.
The cookie selling program is designed to help young girls set goals, create business plans and hone their people skills, said Meridith Maskara, chief operation officer of the Girls Scouts of Greater New York.
“This is the oldest and largest girl led business,” Maskara said. “And with the addition of digital cookie sales, we have expanded the business world these girls will be moving into.”
Michael Zorek said he was proud to watch his daughter fearlessly approach strangers with her sweet and smart sales pitch.
“And people did not brush her off,” he said.
More impressively, Diana hit her cookie selling goal despite a packed schedule with two dance classes, Hebrew school, acting lessons and other activities.
“Many kids will say they want to do something but don’t follow through,” Michael Zorek said. “She was up at 7 a.m. – outside H&H with a clipboard.”
