Aaron Adair, Member / Volunteer of Scouting For All Advocates that Bank of America Discontinue Financial Support of the Boy Scouts of America: How Can a business in this day an age support any organization that discriminates?

March 29, 2001

Ms. Caroline O. Boitano, Executive DirectorBank of America Foundation,
CA5-704-08-03315
Montgomery Street, 8th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104-1866

Dear Ms. Boitano:

Thank you for responding to my letter regarding the Bank of America Foundation's grants to the Boy Scouts of America. I sincerely appreciate the time you took to communicate with me and understand that your organization is still examining the issue of the BSA's discriminatory policies, which adversely affect the gay and atheist communities.

Further, I acknowledge the complexities of your benevolent relationship with United Way and the importance of programs for inner-city youth.

Therefore, I would like to respectfully offer several observations about at-risk youth programs and United Way.

It is my hope that the content of this letter will be both persuasive and helpful. As a high-profile corporation and sought-after
charitable donor, it is within your rights and responsibilities to make strong recommendations to United Way about the management of your grants. While it may be tempting to abdicate responsibility for how another organization spends your donations, your silence will reflect poorly on Bank of America in the eyes of many fair-minded Americans.

Let me ask you, would you remain silent if United Way funneled a portion of your contributions to an organization that barred African-Americans, Jewish persons or any other segment of society from membership and the benefits of the program?

Regarding your desire to assist inner-city youth, I would like to recommend that you consider sponsoring organizations that do not discriminate, such as Campfire Boys & Girls, Girl Scouts, 4-H and Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

With your support and the support of other generous corporations, these quality programs can also make a difference to our most at-risk youth.

You can find more information about these organizations at the following web pages. Campfire Boys & Girls: www.campfire.org Girl Scouts: www.gsusa.org 4-H: www.fourhcouncil.edu Boys & Girls Clubs of America: www.bgca.org

In conclusion, your letter made reference to the fact that, of your $85 million contributions' budget, the BSA only received $200,000 in total grants.

Perhaps this was to illustrate the "small" size of your overall support of this organization. I would like to politely point out that this is not a small sum to any organization, especially when the organization can trade on your good name to recruit other major contributors. In short, every penny of your BSA donation represents Bank of America's endorsement of a private organization, an organization that has fought ferociously, all the way to the United States Supreme Court, for its right to be exclusionary, homophobic and intolerant.

I know this is a difficult issue to wrestle with and thank you, again, for your valuable time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Aaron Adair