Girl Scouts Is #ForEVERYGirl - a wonderful story about standing up to prejudice (and being rewarded for that!)

So, here's the story:

The Girl Scouts of Western Washington got a donation. A BIG donation. $100,000.00 This was a lot of money for them, about a quarter of their fundraising goal for the entire year.

But, the money came with a catch.

"Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls," read the message. "If you can't, please return the money."

So what did the Girl Scouts of Western Washington do?

"We said Girl Scouts is for EVERY girl. And we gave the money back."

So proud of them!

Then, the Girl Scouts of Western Washington turned to the internet, launching an indigogo campaign.

They explained what had happened, and asked the larger community to help them replace the funds, so they could still help 500 girls be financially able to "join a troop, go to camp and participate in a multitude of other life-changing Girl Scout experiences even though their families can’t afford to pay for them."

As the indigogo text explains, through their participation in Girl Scouts, Every girl is empowered to:

"Use their voice to stand up for what they believe in
Be proud of who they are, and
Support each other to take action to make the world a better place."

Great goals!

So here's the even better news. They replaced that $100,000.00 donation in ONE DAY. And as of this writing, they'd raised a total of more than $330,000.00! Enough to help over 1,500 girls!

As Stefanie Ellis, the public relations director of Girl Scouts of Western Washington, was quoted in the Upworthy article about this,

"When we realized the donation would require us to exclude some girls, there was nothing else to do but return it. We were grateful to have the enthusiastic backing of our board and staff in making that decision. It was a sad one, though, because that money was for 500 girls who couldn't participate in all the life-changing opportunities we offer without financial support. So we knew we needed to find a way to get that money back. Crowdfunding came up as an idea, and we ran with it. Now here we are.
...
We wholeheartedly believe every girl means EVERY girl. And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to. The only way we're going to fulfill our mission of building girls of 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!"

Beautiful.

As their indiegogo video says, "our community is stronger because we are inclusive."

YES!

Now isn't that a great story?