OLYMPIA — Around this time every year, Girl Scout troops, volunteers and organization officials across the region coordinate an effort to sell their famous cookies across 65,000 square miles and 29 counties east of the Cascades.

Officials like Renee Smock, chief mission delivery officer for the Girl Scouts in the Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho regions, work together with over 300 Scout troops and volunteers to develop a strategic sales plan and supply chain before the cookie selling season opens. Smock said they use sales forecasts and analysis from previous years to predict what varieties of cookies will be in demand and subsequently what kind of supply from the manufacturer will be required.

They secure business partnerships, with large chains and independently owned small businesses, to allow Girl Scouts to sell cookies in front of their shops as people walk in.

All of this planning and coordination to maximize cookie sales during the two- to three-month sales season is massively important to the Girl Scouts organization.

Brian Newberry, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, said cookie sales within the season generate 70 percent of their annual revenue. Smock said cookie sales bring in roughly $4 million a year, money that pays for programs like summer day camps, life-skills training, scholarships and STEM programs, such as robotics.

However, this year’s cookie-selling season is up against a challenge amid the COVID-19 viral outbreak.

Earlier this week, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a “stay at home, stay healthy,” order, urging residents to stay at home and to leave only for essential reasons.

Smock said about 40 percent of the sales during the season are made in person or in front of businesses. With the lack of foot traffic and opportunity for these kinds of sales, she said people in the organization are concerned about how to generate the funding for programs that the girls rely on.

“This could be a body blow for us,” said Newberry. “This is ultimately what this organization is funded on.”

The Girl Scouts have not seen a situation such as this in the nearly 100 years since their administrative board was established, he said. The things that people have become accustomed to seeing during Girl Scout Cookie season, like girls selling cookies in front of grocery stores or delivering cookies to your front door, may not be feasibly safe.

But the Girl Scouts are not giving up.

“We’re Girl Scouts,” Smock said. “We are always preparing.”

Newberry praised the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of the Scouts and volunteers in the region, saying these qualities are “in the heart of every Girl Scout.” Scouts are already exploring ways of boosting sales through their online platform, and troops are competing to produce the best creative advertisements.

“We have 3,500 girls out there that are the best entrepreneurs in the nation,” Newberry said confidently.

Newberry explained that online sales will be critical during this time of social distancing, but admitted that virtual sales cannot match the volume of what a few Girl Scouts could sell in front of a Walmart.

Both Smock and Newberry said they hoped the COVID-19 concerns would blow over in the next few months. That way they could postpone the sales season to be able to do in-person sales during the summer.

“The final story is not yet written. We don’t know whether this is going to be a catastrophic year or not.” Newberry asserted.