Tucson teen is top cookie seller in Southern Arizona

Since Tucson teen Adriana Chavez started selling Girl Scout cookies nine years ago, she’s pushed hard to do better each year.

Her dedication has paid off.

After being one of Southern Arizona’s top 10 sellers for the last seven years, this year she made it to Number One.

“With the help of my mom, we have gotten permission to sell in front of many local businesses,” said Chavez, who sold 4,336 boxes this year to reach her goal. “It is because of those relationships and contacts that I am finally able to get to Number One.”

She’s had some of the same clients for years who stay loyal to her and seek her out to get their cookies.

Chavez, who is 13 and an eighth-grader at Khalsa Montessori School, said she couldn’t have pulled it off without her mother, Suzette Chavez, who is also her troop leader.

“She drives me everywhere, makes sure that I have all the supplies that I need and doesn’t let me give up,” she said. “She constantly reminds me that there are many rewards to scouting and that cookies open the doors for opportunities that would otherwise not be available.”

Her father, Rudy Chavez, also helps out on weekends.

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“This summer, I will be going to a camp on Lake Erie that will be focusing on the ecosystems in the area,” she said. “This trip was mostly funded by cookie funds that I earned last year.”

Total sales for Southern Arizona included the sale of 850,423 boxes, including 21,454 that were sent overseas as part of the Cookies for Military program. All of the proceeds benefit programs here.

“The cookie program is a critical source of funding for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona and it is what makes it possible to serve girls in hard-to-serve areas, offer scholarships and maintain camps and programming,” said Debbie Rich, the chief executive officer for Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, which includes Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Graham, Greenlee and Yuma counties.

The second and third top sellers were also from Pima County: Brianna Ahmad of Tucson and Sasha Gjurgevich of Sahuarita.

Chavez, who plans to attend Catalina Foothills High School in the fall, said cookie sales have earned her spots with local summer camps in the past. She bought her first laptop computer with cookie proceeds.

Here are her words of wisdom for younger girls about scouting:

“It is what you make of it. There are many opportunities to help others and make a world a better place. Cookies is just a small part of the whole experience. Stick with it!”