Send Letters to ExxonMobil Corporation and Ask that They STOP Funding the BSA

April 16, 2001

Mr. Edward F. Ahnert
Manager, Contributions
ExxonMobil Corporation
5959 Las Colinas Boulevard
Irving, Texas 75039-2298

Dear Mr. Ahnert:

Thank you for responding to my letter regarding the ExxonMobil 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 currently has no plans to curtail your support of the BSA. Therefore, I would like to respectfully offer several observations.

Mr. Ahnert, in your letter you indicated that ExxonMobil supports the Boy Scouts of America because the BSA provides important services and "plays an important and vital part in the lives of boys and young men from coast-to-coast." While I agree that the organization has many benefits and is universal, I disagree that these benefits are being offered coast-to-coast and
are of benefit to all Americans. In fact, the BSA, by its own exclusionary actions, has decreased membership and reduced the important role it once played in communities across the United States.

Case in point, the BSA recently refused a charter to Cub Scout Pack 14, sponsored by the United Methodist Church in the Village of Oak Park, Illinois. They took this action because local leaders sought to incorporate into their charter the village's inclusive policy that bars discrimination. About 30 children were affected. Some parents are looking into forming a new
group with the Camp Fire Boys and Girls.

In ExxonMobil's own backyard, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas recently decreased its funding of the Circle Ten Council of the BSA by more than 20%, the first such reduction in many years. Representatives of the United Way of Metro Dallas said that the reason for the cuts is the decrease in the number of minority and inner-city youth being served by the Boy Scouts
in that council.

Wright Lassiter III, chairman of United Way's allocations process, said, "I would say the supporting information [the BSA] provided the panel with didn't justify a $ 1.2 million request," and "the panel wasn't convinced that what they saw from this organization was as compelling as it was in the past." Recent membership counts show that more than 12,000 Scouts in traditional Cub pack and Scout troop programs have been dropped from Circle Ten rolls.

In conclusion, I would like to recommend that the ExxonMobil Foundation consider sponsoring organizations that do not discriminate and are actively growing to meet the challenges of America's youth. With your support, these quality organizations can and are making a coast-to-coast difference. You will find more information about some of 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

Please remember that your BSA donation represents ExxonMobil Foundation'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, an organization that is suffering attrition and declining social relevance. Will Americans grow to view
ExxonMobil through the same lens?

Thank you, again, for your valuable time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Aaron Adair