
Operation Thin Mint℠ (OTM) is a local Girl Scout service project that originated in San Diego in 2002 during the Girl Scout Cookie Program. With support from the community, Girl Scouts and their cookie customers send packages of America's favorite cookies and countless notes of support to veterans and deployed troops serving around the world in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, Japan, Korea, and the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The Girl Scout Cookie Program takes place across San Diego and Imperial counties from January to March each year. To learn more about how to participate or support your local cookie entrepreneurs, visit sdgirlscouts.org/cookies.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the OTM Family Festival on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Girl Scouts San Diego was thrilled to welcome more than 1,200 attendees aboard one of San Diego’s most popular visitor attractions, the USS Midway!
With an exciting program led by Allie Wagner from KUSI-TV and our very own CEO Carol Dedrich, we honored 47 Elite Entrepreneur Girl Scouts (those who sold 2,025+ packages) and our Top 10 OTM Entrepreneurs. These 10 Girl Scouts received the highest numbers of donations for Operation Thin Mint in 2025, collectively reaching 5,223 packages. This year's cookie customers donated 130,700 packages of cookies to deployed US military troops and veterans.
Special shout out to Troop 5912, who held a color guard presentation.
Attendees personally thanked military troops for their service by writing messages of support to accompany the cookies at our “Notes From Home” booth. All guests had an opportunity to shop the Girl Scouts Pop-up Store and participate in hands-on activities, hosted by our community partners and event sponsors.
An epic sendoff party requires some time to boogie! Girl Scouts and their families ended the night with a dance party led by DJ Dre Motion, who kept the party rockin’!
Check out photos from last year’s event.
Hope to see you aboard the USS Midway to celebrate 25 years of OTM next year!
Inquiries:
General event questions? Contact customercare@sdgirlscouts.org.
Interested in OTM Family Festival sponsorships? Contact Betsy Paige.
Print blank OTM notecards, decorate, and return to any Girl Scouts San Diego office or resource center so we can send "notes to show we care" to deployed troops and veterans with shipments of OTM cookies. We collect notes year-round.
"Grown men do cry! The Operation Thin Mint cookies brought back memories of home. With all our hearts, thank you for thinking of us."— Deanna Moore, Supply Officer, USNS PATHFINDER (T-AGS-60)
"Thank you for the cookies. It just feels like a little piece of home was delivered to us!"— LS1(SW/AW) Jennifer Workman, USN, USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74)
"Two things Marines overseas look forward to are letters from family and Girl Scout cookies. So believe me when I say we are thankful for your support and thoughtfulness."— SGT J.T. Drake, USMC; U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia
"We have just received a shipment of Girl Scout cookies out here in Djibouti (Horn of Africa). We are very thankful!"— PO3 Tiffany Woodruff, USN; U.S. Central Command
"The Girl Scout Cookies were such a morale booster! Thank you for keeping our soldiers in your thoughts."— First Sergeant Kerry Wood, USA; Camp Humphreys, Korea