New Yorkers Raised Money for a Robbed Girl Scout Troop and We're Definitely Not Weeping Into Our Thin Mints About It
Phone lines were flooded with calls offering to help.
Hope seemed lost for a New Jersey Girl Scout troop after a thief made off with almost $1200 of their money, but after hearing their story New Yorkers stepped up, opening their hearts and their wallets.
Troop 80062 set up their table full of Girl Scout cookies in the Woodbridge Center Mall, selling all the traditional favorites to save up for a group trip to Savannah, Ga to visit the home of Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low.
In a heart-breaking turn of events though, an unidentified thief made off with the envelope containing the nearly $1200 in cash and checks the girls had made selling cookies.
But a group of generous New Yorkers stepped in to save the day, banding together to raise money to send the girls to Georgia.
Donors save Girl Scout trip after jerk stole $1K in cookie money https://t.co/ZFJ7Z7XMp6 https://t.co/JvLY5EMB0E— New York Post (@New York Post) 1548204040
"We were shocked and devastated," troop leader Jessica Medina, 38 told the NewYork Postafter the January 18 robbery.
"The girls had worked so hard. Everybody was crying."
The thief who approached the table with an elderly woman using a walker first asked the girls for a box of Caramel de Lites and some Peanut Butter Patties before he grabbed the envelope full of cash and checks Medina had put down on the table to help 11-year-old Olivia Limmer with the sale.
"I was behind the table and he reached over it to grab the envelope," Medina told the Post.
"He slipped it in his jacket. He did it very fast — in the blink of an eye"
By the time Medina realized the envelope was gone it was too late. The girls were devastated by the theft.
"I'm pretty angry. It's heartbreaking," said Olivia Limmer.
"You shouldn't steal from anybody, but stealing from Girl Scouts is even worse."
When Medina later posted about the incident on Facebook people were just as upset by the theft as the girls.
Linda Bounanno Berrier/Facebook
Denise Bongiovanni Lagomarsino/Facebook
After the troop's heartbreaking story went viral, a group of kindhearted New Yorkers decided they weren't just going to sit back and watch.
"I don't want to see any child who works hard not get to fulfill her dreams," said Vince La Padula, one of the many donors who pledged more than $3500 already to fund the troop's trip to Savannah.
Padula, 47, who works in finance, has pledged $2200 for the trip.
"For these kids, their whole year depends on how much money they raise," Padula told the Post.
"I was an Eagle Scout myself. A lot of people grew up as Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, so I think they can relate."
Padula wasn't the only one moved by the girls story though.
After the story made headlines people began calling into the Post, offering to write checks.
"Me and my partner saw the article and wanted to help out." said one of the generous donors.
"My daughter was a Girl Scout, so this really got to me."
Another donor, Rabbi Anchelle Perl of Mineola, shared his disbelief with the Post when he called in to pledge $250.
"Children should trust in their elders. What kind of message does it send that an adult would come steal from them?"
And the offers of donations didn't stop there. On Facebook, pledges and offers to buy cookies came pouring in.
Jacqueline D Martinez/Facebook
It is hard to imagine the type of person who would steal from a group of Girl Scouts, but thanks to the support of all the generous donors the girls' story had a much sweeter ending.
BF Won't Introduce GF To His Family After A Year, And She Asks Internet For Advice
Family dynamics are a complicated thing. Some people spend tons of time with their family and/or are emotionally close. Others are so distant that those family members may as well not exist. Navigating that relationship with your own family is hard enough, but navigating your partner and their relationship with their family can seem almost impossible. Things that are casual no-brainers for your family might be a huge deal for their or vice versa. For example; introducing a partner. Some families want to meet everyone and others would rather never see your partners face until you're walking down the aisle.
One Reddit user has been with her man for two years and he's pretty much refusing to introduce her to his family. She's introduced him to hers, but he won't bring her around his even though they live very close by and he is closer with them than she is with hers.
Here's her initial post to Reddit:
Things have been especially great lately. But I can't seem to let this one thing go.
For context, I come from a big, very close-knit family, but I currently live 1,000 miles away from them. I introduced my boyfriend to my parents last year, as well as my sister on a separate occasion. My boyfriend definitely seemed a bit shy around them, which was weird and unexpected (even his job entails making small talk with strangers all day, and he's great at it!) I had many more opportunities to have my BF hang out with my parents and other relatives, but I now feel awkward doing so when I haven't met his.
My BF's family is just his parents and a much older half-sister who is married with kids, but they still vacation together twice a year and my BF has a cute relationship with his brother-in-law and nieces from what he's told me. The kicker is that his parents live 30 minutes away, and the sister is a 1 hour drive. I've even been to his parents house with him, but only while they were away (they're snowbirds).
I've expressed several times over the past year that I want to meet them, and that I was hurt by the fact that it seemed like he was hiding me from them (it turned out, he hadn't told his parents about me until a few months ago, but even now they have no idea what I look like or anything). Although he definitely isn't as close to his family as I am with mine, they seem like sweet people. I've seen the funny birthday cards they send him and the adorable family photos and I've been in the room while he talks to his mom on the phone.
It's not an issue of cultural or religious differences either. His answer is always that his parents get excited about meeting his girlfriends and then they get really disappointed when he eventually ruins the relationship and they break up. I don't even know what that means? My BF has never once said that his parents were overbearing or like to guilt-trip him or anything like that.
Lately he keeps saying that he really wants me to meet his family, that his mom will love me, that we should meet up with his sister for lunch, etc. etc. But it never happens. I feel like he's saying things to appease me with no real intention of following through.
I know he loves me. We're talking about moving out of state together. But is it unreasonable that I don't want to move further in our relationship until I meet these people? I honestly can't tell if I'm blowing this out of proportion or if I'm justified in being hurt.
tl;dr: My boyfriend's family lives close to us and I've never met them, but he doesn't give a real reason why
We grabbed some of the most honest responses to share with you - some have been edited for clarity or language.
H/T: Reddit