It was a generous donation of $100,000 that could have easily provided more opportunities for Girl Scouts in Western Washington. However, the donation had a catch - it would cast out transgender girls who would not be allowed to join a troop.
The donor sent a letter to the Girl Scouts of Washington head Megan Ferland giving specific directions that the "gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can't, please return the money."
Ferland carefully chose her words and returned the money to the donor, the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine reported. Attached with a simple letter Ferland told the donor, "Girl Scouts is for every girl. And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to."
Ferland said that the donation could have funded 500 underprivileged girls to participate in camping activities, but they could not turn a blind eye on this issue.
Saddened by the event but still determined to raise some funding, Ferland and the rest of the Western Washington Girl Scouts Chapter started an online fundraiser to make up for the lost donation, which so far has raised more than $120,000, according to The Hill.
This is the second time that the Girl Scouts Council has taken a public stand in support of transgender girls to be part of the organization. Ferland was also involved in defending and accepting a transgender girl to join the troop in Colorado and overturned an earlier decision rejecting her, The Hill added.
