Genuine relief for Girl Scouts victimized by counterfeiters

The little girls were easy marks for the counterfeiters.

But in the days since Girl Scout troops on the Kitsap Peninsula were cheated by crooks who used fake bills to buy their cookies, the girls have learned valuable lessons about honesty, integrity and the power a community has to make things right.

After the cookie rip-off made national news this week, Girl Scout leaders in Bremerton and Seattle say they've been overwhelmed with e-mails and phone calls from people wanting to donate money to offset the troops' losses.

Calls have come from as far as Alabama and Massachusetts from people furious that kids could be ripped off. The 10 or so donations received by noon Tuesday included $100 from a teacher in Eastern Washington and $45 sent in by a troop of kindergartners from Poulsbo.

"It's a great lesson in life for the girls," said Joe Barnes, the chief marketing and development officer for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, which has its headquarters in Seattle. "The girls already learn to give back to the community. Now, they're seeing the community giving back to them.

"It's very heartwarming to see people in the Puget Sound region, in Washington state, and even across the country wanting to help them," Barnes said.

Initially, only one troop was thought to be out $100, but that number increased after troop leaders began making bank deposits from weekend cookie sales and more counterfeit bills were discovered, said Kate Rocks-Brigati, an area manager for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington's Peninsula Region. The region represents roughly 2,000 girls in 600 troops in Mason, Kitsap, Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Peninsula leaders have confirmed that fake $20 bills and even a few bogus $100 bills were passed to 17 different troops, which rely on cookie sales to fund field trips and summer camps.

So far, three people have been arrested on suspicion of forgery and drug-related crimes, according to Bremerton police. After a man tried to pass a fake $20 at a Bremerton Rite Aid on Sunday, police arrested an 18-year-old woman who was seen throwing a dozen fake $20 bills into a garbage can. She later led police to a home where two men in their 20s were arrested. Officers also seized a printer, printing supplies and drugs.

The three suspects are expected to be charged in Kitsap County Superior Court today, said Bremerton police Detective Sgt. Kevin Crane. Police also are seeking an arrest warrant for a fourth suspect, said Crane, who conservatively estimated the counterfeiters passed $1,000 in bogus bills.

"These guys are real jerks," said Rocks-Brigati. "It seems they were really targeting us. We won't have a final dollar amount until next week, but it is significant.

"Everything we do depends on cookie money," she said.

While it's a shame young girls "had to learn about crime firsthand," they've also learned that good people far outnumber the bad, Rocks-Brigati said.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com