Pittsburgh Girl Scout goes viral after she sells a record-breaking number of cookies

Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Feb 26, 2026

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PITTSBURGH – If there were a Girl Scout badge for going viral, Pim Neill would surely be ironing it on to her bright blue Daisy troop vest.

Powered by millions of TikTok views, the 6-year-old Mount Washington Girl Scout has sold an astonishing 120,000 boxes of cookies – breaking the single season record for cookie sales.

“It’s just incredible how her little community has come together,” said her father, Luke Anorak-Neill.

Pim first spotted a Girl Scout cookie booth at age 3 and said she wanted to sell cookies, too. She was able to join a troop this year and set a cookie goal for the highest option listed: 2,026 boxes for a trip to Niagara Falls.

By going door to door, asking friends and family and reaching out to a list that her family had compiled when she sold nuts and magazines for ballet, she was able to sell more than 800 boxes – a huge number for someone at the Girl Scout “Daisy” level, which encompasses kindergartners and first graders. A post on a neighborhood Facebook group and an email to her father’s former work mailing list got her past the initial 2,026 goal.

On Feb. 5, her father posted a TikTok with Pim giving her sales pitch: “Hi my name is Pim. Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?”

When he asked her what her goal was, she answered that it was 10,000 boxes.

The video – which now has nearly 6 million views and more than 13,000 comments – went viral. In 24 hours, Pim sold 16,000 additional boxes, and she wanted to keep going. In subsequent videos, several of which also have over 1 million views, she continued to raise her goal.

She set her sights on breaking the record for cookies sold in a single cookie-selling season, eventually sailing past that record of 44,000 boxes. And she kept going.

She is expected to surpass 120,000 this week – mainly from people buying just a few boxes apiece.

“For Pim this was all organic,” said Anorak-Neill, who previously worked in political fundraising. “She still doesn’t have anyone who has bought more than 100. I tell people she’s the Bernie Sanders of Girl Scout cookies.”

Thin Mints are the most popular cookie Pim has sold, making up just over a quarter of all sales. Samoas are next, with over 20%, followed by Tagalongs at 16%, Exploremores at just under 10% and Adventurefuls at nearly 8%. About 6,000 boxes sold by Pim will be donated to U.S. military troops.

Pim’s success is “an incredible achievement,” said Mina Beach of Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania in an email.

“This experience highlights how powerful the Girl Scout Cookie Program can be,” she said. “When a Girl Scout sets an ambitious goal and works toward it with determination, it shows what’s possible for her.”

The cookie sales will also come with a financial bonus for Pim, her troop and the council. When she began to sell cookies, her family realized that Pim would earn one Girl Scout reward dollar for every box sold. Those rewards can be used for experiences such as Girl Scout camp or outings such as Disney on Ice. Pim has multiple disabilities and generally needs to be accompanied by a parent or caregiver, which makes her activities more expensive.

Her troop will also get a percentage of the money from cookie sales, as will the Girl Scout council.

To put Pim’s cookie sales in perspective, the entire 27-county Western Pennsylvania council, encompassing 14,000 scouts, sold 1.8 million boxes last year.

“Her success will help her troop’s dreams of going to camp,” said Beach, “while also supporting our council in continuing to provide impactful programs and opportunities for girls across the region.”

The vast majority of people bought cookies that will be shipped straight from the Girl Scouts. But Pim has sold about 2,000 boxes that will need to be delivered in person.

On Feb. 19, her family eagerly awaited their first delivery of about 500 boxes, which they were thankful that the Girl Scouts had agreed to deliver in a U-Haul truck. They expected to get future deliveries based on what the local cookie cupboards had on hand.

Anorak-Neill plans to keep Pim’s online cookie sales open as long as she wants to keep going, or until the end of Girl Scout cookie season. Her troop will also be selling the cookies in person in the near future – the very cookie booth experience that got Pim interested in Girl Scouts in the first place.

Her father has noticed that Pim, whose disabilities include selective mutism and anxiety, is becoming more outgoing by making videos and interacting with customers. She also recently delivered cookies to Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, who proclaimed Feb. 20 “Pim Neill Day.”

“No one expected or realized that this big of a sale could happen,” said Anorak-Neill. “She’s just a 6-year-old who has multiple disabilities and challenges making the world a better place.”