An anonymous donor offered to donate $100,000 to Girl Scouts chapter of Western Washington–with one condition: that they would not spend that money on transgender “girls” who are part of the organization.
The donation would not necessarily preclude transgender girls from joining Girl Scouts–it would just simply mandate that the donors’ money went to scouts who were born female, rather than going to support transgender girls and their activities.
However, that wasn’t good enough for the Girl Scouts–who decided they would give back the money instead.
“We wholeheartedly believe every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to,” said a spokesperson for the Girl Scouts.
“The only way we’re going to fulfill our mission of building girls’ courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place, is if we make sure there aren’t any barriers in place for girls’ success. We welcome all girls to join us, and get out there and make a difference in our world.”
But here’s the problem: by rejecting a $100,000 donation–no small gift–meant that more than 500 girls, who needed the money to join troops and participate in Girl Scouts activities, would be unable to join.
To make ends’ meet, the Girl Scouts of Western Washington was forced to fundraise to earn the missing $100,000 they gave back to the donor–and they not only raised it, but exceeded it.
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington raised more than $280,000–nearly triple their goal–in just a few days.
“To see that we not only made our goal in our first day, but surpassed it, is not something that can be easily described,” the Girl Scouts chapter told the media in a statement.
“The words ‘grateful,’ ‘blown away,’ ‘thrilled,’ and ‘moved’ to come to mind, though even those words don’t seem to easily articulate what we’re feeling over here. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the girls. It’s why we do what we do. It’s why we were moved to find another source of funding when the one we initially had was given back.”
While the Girl Scouts of Western Washington was able to raise money to this time around, it remains to be seen how many donors they can scorn–due to their liberal politics–before it has a real impact on their future fundraising.
