DAPHNE, Ala.— Once a year, residents are treated to a familiar sight: Girl Scouts walking through the neighborhood selling cookies door-to-door.

The scouts will sell an array of flavors this year, including: Thin Mints, Samoas, Dulce de Leches, Do-Si-Dos, Tagalongs, Trefoils, Lemon Chalet Cremes and Sugar-free Chocolate Chip cookies.

But the cookie sales program—which begins Friday—gives Girl Scouts more than just a chance to share sugary goodness with their neighbors.

It gives them self-esteem by helping develop leadership skills. The scouts can develop confidence by selling door-to-door or building accounting skills by managing finances.

“I like the booth sales because I like interacting with people,” scout Maggie Caraway, 10, said.

The Girl Scouts regularly host booth displays at local shopping establishments and grocery stores.

“The Girl Scout Cookie Program is a valuable part of the Girl Scout experience,” Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama CEO Liz Brent said in a statement.

“It is always exciting to see girls developing skills they might not realize they are developing, while it is happening,” Brent said.

Girl Scout troops use funds raised from the cookie program to pay for a service project, attend a trip or even summer camp.

“We also use our cookie money to pay for badges and patches,” troop leader Alicia Spencer said. “They give incentives to the girls like camp scholarships.”

The cookie sales program gives girls a chance to win a scholarship to attend a week-long camp.

“We get money to go to summer camp,” scout Christina Spencer, 9, said.

The girls must sell 600 boxes of cookies to earn $175 toward camp fees and 1,000 boxes to earn $350 for camp.

“We do a troop camp-out at Camp Sid Edmonds in Bay Minette,” Kallie Brown said.

Besides attending camp, sales from the program can also go toward visiting educational destinations like the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, DigiGirlz High-Tech Camp and Great Lakes Aquatic Biology. The scouts can take advantage of science and math educational opportunities that could help them in school or even in their chosen career choice.

“(The program) helps them use math skills to manage money,” Brent said in a statement. “By encouraging the girls to bank their cookie credits, they are taught the importance of saving and decision making.”

This year, Girl Scouts will participate in the “Gift of Caring” project in which the scouts will deliver packages of cookies to senior centers, women’s and children’s centers, food banks and other charity organizations on behalf of donors.

“We donate some of the leftover cookies to the Prodisee Pantry,” Mary Katherine Morris, 10, a student at Rockwell Elementary, said.

“Maggie likes to go to the assisted living center and sell,” Tracey Caraway, assistant troop leader, said.

“We also have Girl Scout cookies and tea with the residents of Westminster Village,” Alicia Spencer said.

Girl Scouts will also accept “Gift of Caring” cookie donations to soldiers stationed overseas.

All cookies are $3.50 per box and all funds go directly to the troop.