Presented by Mr. Peduto
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WHEREAS, The Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers is a team of 23 middle and high school girls who will grant $10,000 to other teens in their communities to create projects that will improve the lives of girls in Allegheny County over the next two years; and
WHEREAS, on Sunday, October 30, 2005 these young women held a press conference announcing a “girlcott” of Abercrombie and Fitch in response to offensive and demeaning shirts being sold by the company; and
WHEREAS, the actions taken by these women and The Women and Girls Foundation Executive Director Heather Arnet were featured on NBC's Today Show, in addition to numerous broadcast and cable news TV shows, and newspapers throughout the country; and
WHEREAS, after 5 days of the “girlcott”, Abercrombie and Fitch agreed to stop selling the offensive t-shirts and to meet with the Girls as Grantmakers group; and
WHEREAS, a meeting between eleven representatives from the Girls as Grantmakers group and six Abercrombie and Fitch executives then took place on December 5, 2005 where the Girls as Grantmakers presented the company with examples of an empowering product line of t-shirts for women of their own creation, as well as suggested that the company donate 5% of its sales from this new product line to be distributed to girls' grantmaking projects around the county, and that the company form a teen advisory council; and
WHEREAS, while Abercrombie and Fitch has declined to move forward with the girls' ideas, this group of dynamic Pittsburgh residents are confident that in the near future they will proceed with creating their empowering t-shirt line, with support of the Women and Girls Foundation, independently or in partnership with another national retailer
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh commends the participants of the Girls as Grantmakers program for the courageous stance these women took in sending a message of positive social change and the work they did in furthering the empowerment of young women across the country; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby declares Monday, December 19, 2005, “Girls as Grantmakers Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.