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South Carolina Girl Scout sells more than 5,000 boxes of cookies for one very specific goal

One troop leader said 9-year-old Gia-Imani Thompson accomplished something she hadn't seen in the 20 years she's been involved - and did it during a pandemic.

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.

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