HURON — Cassidy Lawton, a 10-year-old in fourth grade, is willing to go to great lengths to make sure people have an opportunity to enjoy Girl Scout cookies — even if it means picking up a new language along the way.

For the past several weeks, Cassidy has been learning key phrases in Spanish so she can market her Girl Scout cookies to the hispanic population in and around Huron.

“She was the one that said, ‘Mom, this will give them an opportunity to be part of Girl Scouts,’” said Cassidy’s mother, Tiffany Lawton. “She took it upon herself. It was her decision to do that.”

This is the third year Cassidy has been selling cookies with Troop No. 50708, which her mother leads. There are three girls in the Troop, but only Cassidy is working on bridging the language barrier for cookie sales.

“I printed out a bilingual Girl Scout paper and we went on Google and also asked a few friends to make sure we were pronouncing words right,” Lawton said. “She can tell you every single cookie and what’s in them. She gets so excited when someone with a hispanic background comes along, to translate from English to Spanish. It’s something she hopes to continue through school as well, once its available to her in grade level.”

Lawton’s Girl Scout Troop sets up a booth at Coborn’s on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to sell Girl Scout cookies, with most days starting in the morning and going through early evening.

Last year, Cassidy sold 2,200 boxes of cookies.

“This year her goal was 3,000, but we dropped it down to 2,500,” Lawton said. “She’s sold up to 1,700 so far, and there’s only 23 days left.”

Lawton has been leading the Girl Scout Troop for the past three years, and will continue as long as the girls are interested.

“I’ve grown with my girls,” said Lawton, who believes her daughter is a gift from above.

“I was told I would never have kids,” she said. “My dad found out he had cancer in 2013. Exactly a month later I found out I was pregnant. After my father passed away, 25 days later, she was born. She literally and truthfully saved my life. It’s just me and her with a few by our side. I’m her cheerleader and I’ll always be her biggest cheerleader. She one day hopes to be a Doctor ”

Girl Scout cookie sales have been a major fundraiser for the Girl Scout program. The idea was launched in 1917 during a cookie sale at an Oklahoma high school to raise money for the local program. Since then, Girl Scouts nationwide have sold hundreds of millions of boxes of cookies. Each year they expect to sell about 200 million boxes. The only exception was in 2021, when 15 million boxes of cookies remained unsold due to the onset of the pandemic.

With each purchase you supporting Girl Scouts as they learn, grow and thrive; plus all proceeds stay local to help fund programs, experiences and learning. An added bonus is the confidence and business experience gained by girls as they sell the cookies.

“I’ve had people tell her she could sell air conditioning to an Eskimo, or a piece of chewed bubble gum,” Lawton said, laughing. “The last cookie booth we had a lady asked if she could come work with her because she’s so good at selling.”