berry good news

Girl Scouts unveil radical new flavor for 2023 cookie season in Houston

They say it's a sister to the Thin Mint.

Photo courtesy of Girl Scouts

The Girl Scouts are up to something radical: According to a release from Girl Scouts of the USA, they're adding a new flavor for the 2023 season that's a spinoff of their trademark Thin Mints cookie.

Called the Raspberry Rally, it's a thin, crispy cookie that looks and acts like a Thin Mints, with the same chocolaty coating, but instead of a minty center, it's infused with raspberry flavor.

They're calling it a sister to the Thin Mint but everyone knows that the Thin Mint is an only child and has no siblings.

The new raspberry-flavored cookie will be available to consumers nationally during the 2023 Girl Scout Cookie season, alongside favorites like Thin Mints and Samoas. But it will be available online only, the first Girl Scout cookie lineup to be thusly sold, with the idea that it will enhance Girl Scout e-commerce sales and entrepreneurial skills.

It will also be in limited quantities so, stand by for some frenzied online ordering once the season begins.

Girl Scout cookie season begins on January 12.

The release recounts the myriad pluses of the Girl Scouts cookies program, not that anyone needs persuasion, I mean all you have to say is cookies, but here goes:

One-hundred percent of proceeds raised from in-person and online cookie orders directly benefit local councils and troops.
Girl Scouts learn leadership, problem-solving, and community building through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, resulting in an invaluable experience that cultivates an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program encourages girls to be risk takers, to think outside of the box, and to be confident in their own abilities.

The program embraces the understanding of the world of business, money management, and entrepreneurship. Cookie Business badges range anywhere from goal setting to learning effective in-person and online sales pitches, using market research, creating business plans, and implementing digital marketing campaigns.

There's also the fact that it's just fun to get something that isn't readily available 365 days per year.

This is not the first new flavor the Girl Scouts have introduced. Who could forget Adventurefuls, the brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and sea salt they introduced for the 2022 season? Still available, btw.

"The Raspberry Rally is the perfect addition to our delicious line up of Girl Scout Cookies," said Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. "When you purchase a box of Girl Scout Cookies, you are fueling girls’ learning and development through incredible leadership development programs. All proceeds stay local and support troops in your community with essential funds to power unique opportunities and adventures for their girls."

Visit www.girlscoutcookies.org to sign up to be notified as soon as Raspberry Rally and other Girl Scout Cookies are on sale.

desserts

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”