Woman Steals Girl Scouts’ Takings

A woman made off with a cash box used by 12 Minnesota girls holding a clothing sale for charity.

The sale, organized by several Girl Scouts, was meant to provide low-income families with slightly used clothing at good prices and to raise money to subsidize admission for low-income children at the Duluth Children’s Museum, the Duluth (Minn.) News-Tribune reported.

The girls said the woman distracted them during the sale at the Depot in Duluth by pretending to be a customer and asking for boxes of various sizes. Then she disappeared with their entire receipts, the News-Tribune said.

While they were unsure of how much they had made, they said that when they held a similar sale last year they had made about $1,400 by 1 p.m., the time of the theft Thursday, the newspaper said.

But most of the girls said they felt more sympathy for the thief than anger.

Maybe she just really needed the money, said Tori Plumbo, a Girl Scout from Stillwater. If that was her last resort, then I do feel sorry for her.

A museum spokeswoman said that $1,700 in contributions have poured in from businesses since they learned of the theft.