Posted on 09/28/2001 7:51:10 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
ITHACA -- Tompkins County residents will once more be able to include the Boy Scouts of America in their United Way donations. But they will have to do so by adding the name themselves to their pledge cards.
United Way Executive Director James Brown, United Way Board President Joann Gruttadaurrio, Baden-Powell Vice President Steve Gray, and Baden-Powell Council Executive Mark Tyson made the formal announcement Thursday>
. The Tompkins County agency stopped funding the Baden-Powell Council last year after a June 28 Supreme Court decision allowed the Scouts to keep membership and leadership criteria that exclude avowed homosexuals. It was the first county branch in New York state to stop funding its local council of the Boy Scouts of America.
But after several months of negotiations, the Baden-Powell Council of the Boy Scouts of America and United Way of Tompkins County reached an agreement that they said allows for mutual respect for each other's stances and some degree of mutual support.
Tyson said the Baden-Powell Council realized last spring that the split had not worked out well for either group.
"A lot of people felt they had to take sides. That hurt both organizations," Brown said.
The Boy Scouts' designated gifts and direct contributions exceeded expenditures last year, Gray said. Other United Way agencies in the Baden-Powell region continued their support of the Scouts.
"But this year, we need to reach out to our supporters in a way that supports the United Way," he said.
The United Way of Tompkins County did not meet its $1.8 million goal last year, Brown said. The final tally was $1.68 million. This year's goal is $1.75 million.
"We try to set our goals based on need," he said. "We are going to stretch ourselves this year."
Though the Baden-Powell Council is still not a member of the United Way of Tompkins County, the two organizations are trying to work toward a closer relationship in the future, Tyson and Brown said. Tyson cited the Scouts' career exploration program, known as Explorer Scouts, as an initiative both Baden-Powell and United Way could support. The program is open to all young people and adults. Sexual orientation is not an issue.
"We are looking at this program as a way to stay connected," Brown said. He pointed out that United Way has supportive relationships with other community agencies that are not members.
"Hospicare is a good example," he said. "They are not members, but we work together because we both support this community."
A spokesman at United Way national headquarters said 50 of 1,400 United Way agencies this year chose to change their relationships with the Boy Scouts. Of the 50, eight stopped supporting the Scouts, another eight to 12 continued support only of the Scouts' Explorers Posts, and the remainder warned they would discontinue support in 2002 or 2003 if the Scouts don't change their policy of excluding gays.
The Vestal-based Baden-Powell Council serves 25 packs and troops with approximately 1,000 members in Tompkins County. The Council serves a total of 12,000 Scouts in Tompkins, Chenango, Tioga and Broome counties in New York, and Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania.
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