Apparently the Pope is asking the public to boycott Girl Scout Cookies. Reading this article, one would think that the answer is to support an American Heritage Girls Troop. I wish the answer was that simple.
Our judicial system doesn't dispense justice, it dispenses legalities. The US Supreme Court Justices legalized abortion. That doesn't mean that all American citizens agree with their decision, or think it's right. Should we boycott our nations judicial system because we disagree? Or should we lead our children by our example and privately state our opinions, while we raise our children to be thoughtful, responsible and compassionate people?
The Rainier Lions Club, The Cowboy Church & Bucket Line Ministries all
tried to sponsor an American Heritage Girls troop in Rainier. We had many girls
and families interested in the troop. In fact, we were told by someone in the American Heritage Girls leadership that we had the "go ahead," so our parents bought uniforms; our girls earned patches and started a troop.
The sponsorship cost $325.00 every year. We went back and forth – working relentlessly with the leadership of American
Heritage Girls – only to have our troop of girls denied. First the Cowboy Church in McKenna was turned down. Then
the Rainier Lions Club and finally the Bucket Line Ministries were turned down. The leadership of American Heritage Girls refused every group that offered to sponsor our troop.
What's a parent to do?
The AHG uniforms and American Heritage patches,
books etc. couldn't be refunded, so they were donated to charity. This was a bittersweet event for our girls, parents and
leadership in Rainier, who did everything in their power to bring American
Heritage Girls to Rainier. The leadership of Girl Scout Troop #40117, in Rainier invited our former American Heritage Girls to join their troop.
The leadership in our Girl
Scout Troop is very involved in doing wholesome activities with the girls in
their troop. Their activities made Halloween in the Park in 2013 a
wonderful, inspiring and fun event. The ‘almost’ American Heritage Girls, who
ended up joining the Girl Scout Troop #40117 in Rainier are very pleased with
the support, leadership and activities they participate in.
Involving every Girl Scout in the controversy of abortion is unconscionable. Most of these girls are young children. They have a right to their childhood. As for me, I already bought Girl Scout Cookies from Autumn, who made a presentation at our Rainier Lions Club last Monday night.
Scout Troops (Cub, Boy & Girl) can now accept direct donations. If you trust the leadership and value the children of the troop in your area, you can donate directly to the troop, in lieu of buying cookies.
Thank you to the leaders of Girl Scout Troop #40117 for everything they do for the girls in Rainier.
Scout Troops (Cub, Boy & Girl) can now accept direct donations. If you trust the leadership and value the children of the troop in your area, you can donate directly to the troop, in lieu of buying cookies.
Thank you to the leaders of Girl Scout Troop #40117 for everything they do for the girls in Rainier.
Linda, because AHG is a Christ centered character development ministry, the Charter Organization must agree to a Christian worldview. AHG reimbursed all of the girls' registrations, your Charter fee and offered to refund your money on the uniforms that were purchased through another Troop. AHG acted with integrity and trust, why would you blog inaccuracies in an effort to defame our ministry?
ReplyDeleteI wasn't criticizing American Heritage Girls. The charter fee check was returned, uncashed. The uniforms had patches on them & we were told they couldn't be refunded, so they were donated to charity.
DeleteRainier has a population of 1899 people, many of whom are senior citizens. Our city doesn’t even have a street light. (Nor do we have a tavern or bar.) There are few businesses here. The busiest place in town is the Rainier Emergency Food Center, which serves over 200 families a week – and it’s only open twice a week from 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM Wednesday & Saturday. People line up to get their food.
The churches in the City of Rainier are struggling and couldn’t afford the sponsorship fees or devote the time to the AHG troop leadership. There were 3 groups who were committed to supporting an AHG troop in Rainier, however. The Rainier Lions Club was denied because they are not affiliated with a Christian church. The Cowboy Church and Bucket Line Ministries that offered to support an AHG troop in Rainier are both strictly Christ centered. Although these two organizations are located in McKenna, WA, they are 5 to 7 minutes from the center of Rainier. They were turned down, too.
The AHG organization had the opportunity to serve our community and minister to our girls. We worked hard to get a supporting organization that could afford the fees and meet the AHG standards. The parents and support organizations are disappointed in the way things worked out after months of trying to get sponsorship approval from the AHG leadership.
Perhaps our experience is an exception. We found that it isn’t easy for a sponsor to get approval of the AHG leadership for an AHG troop. Our disappointment doesn't diminish the AHG ministry. We don’t question the integrity or honesty of the AHG leadership. Perhaps other groups who want to have an AHG troop can learn from our mistakes, so their sponsors will be approved easily.
BTW, My husband, George said we were given our own troop number, so the uniforms were purchased under that troop number. We were told everything would work out. We tried for over 5 months to meet the AHG criteria. Then all of a sudden, it wasn't going to work out. We have no gripe with AHG.
DeleteIt's a tragedy that AHG missed the opportunity to work with a wonderful group of Christian parents and their daughters.