Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Troop 6169 sold more than 8,000 boxes of cookies since the start of season on Jan. 17.

The secret to their success is family.

“Cookie sale is a family affair,” Troop 6169’s Leader Nancy Peacock said. “Our girls are young, so they rely on their families for transportation and support.

“Families have been very supportive to the dreams and goals of the troop as a whole and continue to support the girls in pursuit of their dreams.”

The Troop is comprised of 15 girls, kindergarten through third grade, from the Allentown area.

Before cookie season began, Peacock explained to the Girl Scouts what running a troop entails and the top five skills for good entrepreneurship.

The girls learned about the overhead costs for crafts, trips, camping and purchasing the badges for their uniforms, as well as, real-life profits and savings.

They also learned about goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

“Once they realized the cost of maintaining a troop, they voted that service projects are the next most important use of their cookie profits,” she said. “They decided their main areas of focus would be homelessness, animals and the elderly.”

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, girls not only discover their inner leadership potential but also use their earnings to power amazing experiences for themselves and their troop, including travel, outdoor adventure, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programming.

Powered by their cookie proceeds, Troop 6169 will either readopt a wolf, or as the girls affectionately named her Wolfie, or another animal at the Philadelphia Zoo.

They are also planning a trip to the zoo later this year to visit Wolfie.

Additionally, through the Hometown Heroes program, donated cookie boxes were given to the first responders in Allentown, exemplifying a Girl Scout’s core value to give back to the local community.

The project for which the girls are most excited is the library they are installing outside Redeemer Lutheran Church, N. 19th Street, Allentown, where they host their weekly meetings.

“A Little Free Library will promote literacy in the community and also provide a spot for the neighborhood to engage with one another,” Peacock said. “Redeemer Lutheran Church is very community focused, so installing a library on their property allows us to support their mission and thank them for always being supportive with our Girl Scout Troop.”

Peacock wants to help the girls develop the life skills needed to succeed and achieve their dreams.

“Our goal is to develop future leaders,” she said. “We want to give them the skills to help them become successful entrepreneurs and business women.”