Girl Scouts all over the country can now work to earn their own 'Coat of Many Colors,' a new patch named after the classic Dolly Parton song. Dolly and the Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council have teamed up to create the patch, which recognizes that 20% of all children in the U.S. live below the poverty line."When I was a little girl, my family didn't have much money, but we had lots of love," Dolly says in a video message to Girl Scouts on Tanasi.com. "One winter, my mama made me a warm coat out of scraps of cloth. That coat had so many colors, it was like a rainbow! I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. But the other kids made fun of me and my coat. Has anything like that ever happened to you? I bet it has. Sometimes it hurts to be different ... but it shouldn't. What makes us different is what makes us special. There's no one in this world quite like you. Earn my patch, be proud of who you are and be kind to everyone you meet. That's what Girl Scouting is all about!"
Dolly became an honorary Girl Scout back in 2007. She'll host several Scouts who've earned her patch at a special celebration at Dollywood on June 13.
Reader Comments(1 of 4)
jmadi38876at 6-09-2009
Whew! What a relief! I thought for sure that the Girl Scouts had come up with a pregnancy, or an abortion merit badge. As liberal as these babes are, I thought maybe even a badge for cutting a boy scout's nuts off.
vanderkanat 6-09-2009
I guess making strong women is a threat to you! In your mind liberal women/girls must equal strong and that really gets to you, doesn't it? LOL
Robbieat 6-09-2009
Vanderkan - So having an abortion makes a woman strong??
Korryat 6-09-2009
This patch sounds great I wish that they would have had this when I was in Girl Scouts. I also grew up poor and got alot of teasing about what I wore. It really hurt a lot but Girl Scouts was a great savior for me and really helped me to be who I am today.
phumswifeat 6-09-2009
What do you really want to say to these children? Would you like for them to starve to death, sleep on the ground, have swollen stomachs and be diseased because they have no food and medical attention. That they don't deserve to be alive or to be loved. That they are less deserving because our kids deserve more? just what is your point?
frenchfry555at 6-09-2009
phumswife? what are you saying? I've reread your comment and it really just doesnt makes sense!
v8fordtempoat 6-09-2009
Is that like having the "Condom" Merit Badge for Boy Scouts?? :0P
Nikiat 6-09-2009
I think shes saying that children are mean and cruel, yet for some reason her fellow scouts left her alone. I was a girl scout for 7 years. Though I belonged to several different troops, they all were pretty much the same, daycare. We didnt help the community. Food drive for the very poor Ms Dolly speaks of? no way!
Exactly how is one to earn this patch? Are they supposed to endure the same torture she did? Or is there a chapter in the handbook scouts must read explaining how to treat everyone like human beings? Something that their parents should have taught them long ago.
Billyat 6-09-2009
That 20% of children living below poverty level includes children of illegal immigrants, which makes up the majority of the 20%.
Sandyat 6-09-2009
Yeah don't you wish...I was one of those working poor growing up, as was everyone I knew in Philadelphia PA. Only so many states border other countries. The majority of the poor are American brother, just like you.
Lindaat 6-09-2009
You wish Billy. with single moms on the rise, there are more poor and hungry kids than you think that were born here in the good ol' USA. I remember being STARVING growing up and kids making fun of my pants being tucked because I was so skinny. I joined the Brownies but the troop leader was so mean and yelled and called us names. I cried and bolted out of there with my twin sister. Never to go back again.
Noble Cascadeat 6-09-2009
The Girl Scouts never get clobbered like the Boy Scouts. I don't see anyone forcing lesbians to join the Girl Scouts like the gays have done with the Boy Scouts....
Terri!at 6-09-2009
ummm, no... the courts ruled the boy scouts can discrimate against gays if they want to. Nothing, in my opinion, to be proud of. The girl scouts are a little more mature, perhaps.
jmadi38876at 6-09-2009
No Terri, the courts ruled that the Boy Scouts can prohibit gay LEADERS. In other words the Boy Scouts have the right to protect our children from perverts, something the Girl Scouts aren't interested in.
Rachelat 6-09-2009
"If a youth comes to a Scoutmaster and admits to doing wrong, like stealing, lying, cheating or vandalizing, the normal procedure is to counsel the youth privately and sympathetically...If the youth admits to being a homosexual, the Boy Scouts' policy is to instantly terminate his association with Scouting." Findings of fact, in a DC court case 1