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A donor gave $100,000 to the Girl Scouts to exclude 1 group of girls. They gave it right back.

They raised more than $100,000 in a single day.

Earlier this year, a generous donor gave $100,000 to the Girl Scouts of Western Washington.

According to the Seattle Met, that was almost a quarter of the council's fundraising goal for the entire year. This was a big deal.

Unfortunately, the donation came with one very big catch: The Girl Scouts had to promise that the money would NOT be used to support transgender girls.

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

Wait, what!?

As a national organization, Girl Scouts has been explicitly inclusive in their messaging about trans members.

Earlier this year, the Girl Scouts made clear that they support trans girls:

"Girl Scouts is proud to be the premiere leadership organization for girls in the country. Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority. That said, if the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe."

Ultimately, though, the decision about whether trans girls can join a troop is left up to individual councils. For example, just two months after the statement was released, a Louisiana troop reaffirmed that trans girls weren't welcome — and it seems as though the $100,000 donation to the Girl Scouts of Western Washington was an effort to get them to try to make a similar preemptive policy.

The Girl Scouts have received some pretty major backlash over their trans-inclusive policy, but they've stuck to it.

After the national organization released its statement on the matter, petitions and boycotts of the Girl Scouts were launched by a number of anti-LGBT organizations arguing that trans girls are really just "boys in skirts" (they're not) and are somehow a threat to the safety of girls in the troop (there's no truth to this type of accusation).

The Girl Scouts were not having it.

The group had a tough decision to make, but landed on the side of being inclusive: They returned the $100,000 donation.

As a local council, they could have taken the money and vowed not to accept trans girls. But that's not how this council rolls.

"Girl Scouts is for every girl. And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to."
— Megan Ferland, Girl Scouts of Western Washington CEO

Council CEO Megan Ferland explained the reason for the decision, telling the Seattle Met, "Girl Scouts is for every girl. And every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to."

But doing the right thing meant the troop was out $100,000. So they asked the Internet for help — and got it.

It wasn't like this money was just going to sit around. In fact, the council was counting on that donation to help fund 500 girls' memberships in the Girl Scouts. Without the money, these girls would be out of luck.

So the troop launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise money from people who believe that an inclusive environment is a better environment.

In a single day, the council raised more than $100,000!

It's great to see the Girl Scouts of Western Washington standing up for all girls.

Because an accepting, inclusive world is a good world. Trans kids go through enough struggles as it is, and for trans girls to know that the organization will stand up for what is right can be life-saving.

Stefanie Ellis, the public relations director of Girl Scouts of Western Washington, emailed me with some background on how the crowdfunding campaign came about.

"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!"


You can watch their #ForEVERYGirl video below, and you can donate at their Indiegogo page.

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

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education
Education

In 125 years, millions of people have looked at this painting. No one really saw it until recently.

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Van Gogh’s Starry Night.



Van Gough never got to enjoy his own historic success as an artist (even though we've been able to imagine what that moment might have looked like). But it turns out that those of us who have appreciated his work have been missing out on some critical details for more than 100 years.

I'm not easily impressed, OK?

I know Van Gogh was a genius. If the point of this were "Van Gogh was a mad genius," I would not be sharing this with you.
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Joy

Woman who lives on a cruise ship shares the hardest part about her perfect life

She's a little afraid to leave her cabin.

via Christine Kesteloo/TikTok and Cagri Gurbuz/Pexels

Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.

A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.

“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.

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Health

Women do better when they have a group of strong female friends, study finds

We're stronger together.

Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash

Women do better when they have female friends.

Madeleine Albright once said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." It turns out that might actually be a hell on Earth, because women just do better when they have other women to rely on, and there's research that backs it up.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found that women who have a strong circle of friends are more likely to get executive positions with higher pay. "Women who were in the top quartile of centrality and had a female-dominated inner circle of 1-3 women landed leadership positions that were 2.5 times higher in authority and pay than those of their female peers lacking this combination," Brian Uzzi writes in the Harvard Business Review.

Part of the reason why women with strong women backing them up are more successful is because they can turn to their tribe for advice. Women have to face different challenges than men, such as unconscious bias, and being able to turn to other women who have had similar experiences can help you navigate a difficult situation. It's like having a road map for your goals.

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Pop Culture

Millennials nearing 40 are sharing their biggest mistakes so everyone can learn from them

Here are 21 of the most powerful responses.

via Pexels

Millennials are now old enough to seriously reflect on life.

It seems like only yesterday a millennial was a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, have hit their 40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.

They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves.

The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.

A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 “what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?” and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.

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Joy

Stop blaming the 'Karens.' The people who complain the most have a different name.

The stereotype has been wrong all along.

via Rickey123/Pixabay

A woman giving a stern warning.

Over the past few years, women named Karen have taken a lot of heat in the media. The term "Karen" has been used to describe a specific type of entitled, privileged and often middle-aged white woman. Typically, "Karen” is depicted as demanding, self-important and constantly seeking to escalate minor inconveniences to authority figures, like demanding to "speak to the manager."

Identifying the folks who create unnecessary drama in our world is important. But calling them a “Karen” isn’t the best way to solve the problem. There are many reasons to have an issue with the “Karen” stereotype. First, it’s terrible for people named Karen, and it’s also a connotation that many feel is racist, sexist and ageist.

Further, according to a new study by Trustpilot, the stereotype isn’t accurate. A recent survey by the online media site found that the people who leave the most one-star reviews aren’t female, and the women who do it the most aren’t named Karen.

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