26 / matters magazine / school 2017 Sweet Rewards Charlotte McCourt tops the nation in Girl Scout cookie sales and scores a trip to the founder’s childhood home BY KAREN DUNCAN Charlotte McCourt outside of the historic Savannah home of Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low. E very year nearly 20,000 Girl Scouts make the pilgrimage to Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s fam- ily home in Savannah, Georgia. The historic site where Low was born, raised, and founded Scout- ing is now owned and operated by the Girl Scouts of the USA. Even though the na- tional headquarters moved to New York City a while ago, Savannah is still the heart of Girl Scouting. For 12-year-old Charlotte McCourt of South Orange, this special trip came as part of her remarkable run at becoming the largest single seller of Girl Scout cookies ever. When Charlotte began selling in January, her original goal was to match her sale of 300 boxes from the previous year. With early sales sluggish, she asked her father, Sean, how she might attract people to buy boxes for the troops (an option for all Girl Scouts, where the actual cookies go to those in the military, and a great tactic for those who want to support the Scouts without the calories). He sug- gested she contact a wealthy friend of his in Den- ver. She did, composing a lengthy letter that, as her mother Beth said, was “pure Charlotte.” She introduced herself and launched into her cookie sales pitch, which included rating each cookie on a scale of one to ten, stating she felt truthful ad- vertising was important. She gave the Trefoil a six, saying it “paired nicely with a hot drink but was pretty boring alone.” The Do-Si-Do managed a five because of its blandness but she gave the Thin Mints a nine “for delectable chocolate mint combination,” and for being “inspired.” The Samoas also got a nine. She ended her plea by explaining she’d not given any of the cookies a ten because a ten was for anyone who’d support our troops with a purchase. A nice closer. Whenherparentssawthelettertheywereamused, and Sean then thought to show it to his boss, mostly for a good chuckle. His boss is actor, TV and radio host personality Mike Rowe, who loved it so much he read it on his podcast. And then the avalanche began. The video has been watched more than 15 million times and prompted thousands of people to go to Charlotte’s Girl Scout website link and order cookies – almost all for military troops. As sales escalated, Rowe reported the tally and other news sites took notice. Charlotte was inter- viewed by dozens of media outlets – from Bravo, to Today, to People, CBS and the Washington Post. She was brought into New York to Fox News for a live interview. When sales topped 25,000, the New Jersey Council of Girl Scouts felt they could no lon- ger handle the demand and asked the McCourts to close Charlotte’s site, to which they agreed. By this time, she’d sold 26,806 boxes, well above the previous record of 21,447 set by an Oklahoma girl in 2014. Her small local troop reaped the benefits of this with a sizable chunk of money coming to their chap- ter. They are actively looking at several charities to support and Charlotte has received notes from sol- diers who talk about the outsized impact a box of cookies can have on their morale. “It’s not about the Thin Mints,” said one. “Or the Samoa or the Taga- log or even the ‘bland and tasteless Toffee-tastic.’ It’s about knowing someone back home is thinking of you. It matters, more than you know.” One of the treats bestowed on Charlotte for her efforts was a week at her beloved Camp Hoover – a