Scouting Week In Review – November 12th, 2010
Every week as I scan the newswires for stories, I am amazed at the things Scouts are out there doing on a daily basis. From rescuing drowning victims and helping feed the hungry to something as small as helping an elderly person go grocery shopping, or teaching younger kids how to go fishing – you never cease to prove your dedication and commitment to Scouting. Keep up the amazing work!
This week we honored our nation’s veterans, we collected tons of food for the needy and we recognized and celebrated the efforts of amazing volunteers across the country.
Here are a few stories that stood out to us as we scoured this week’s Scouting news. If you know of a great news story that we missed, please feel free to tell us about it in the comments section below.
Food Drives Across The Country Receive Tons Of Donations – Literally!
This month marked a nationally collective effort to gather food for the homeless and hungry. Food banks and pantries all over the country look forward to the annual Boy Scouts Food Drives because, for most of them, they provide the biggest donation of food for the entire year.Even in a tough economy, Scouts still managed to gather tons and tons of non-perishable food for those who are in need this holiday season. Once again, your persistence paid off and your efforts will be realized by thousands of homeless and hungry people in your area.
Did your Troop participate in a food drive this year? If so, tell us about it in the comment section below. Here’s a great story about how several Troops in Virginia rallied together and made their drive a total success – Scouts Collect Food For Needy. Awesome job guys!
Boy Scouts Honor Our Nation’s Veterans
As we mentioned above, this week brought us Veterans Day, which is a day to honor and remember our nation’s military veterans.
All around the United States, Scouts gathered and participated in parades, parties and solemn celebrations to pay their respects to our fallen heroes and those who fought and served so bravely for our freedom.
Did your Troop or Patrol do something together to honor our Vets? If so, let us know below. Here’s one of dozens of stories we found about Scouts participating in these events. A local Boy Scout Troop in Rochester, New York participated in a flag retirement ceremony to honor our Veterans – Boy Scouts Help Retire American Flags in Veterans Day Ceremony.
Looking For An Eagle Scout Project? Maybe This Will Help!
For some Eagle Scouts, figuring out what they were going to do for their project was a difficult task, but for this young man in Livonia, MI., the answer was just a merit badge and a school assignment away.
After touring his local Humane Society shelter for his dog care merit badge, he received an assignment at school to write a letter to an organization. So this bright young mind put it all together and wrote to the Humane Society asking if he could build for them and donate dog houses for his Eagle Scout project!
After receiving donations from local hardware and paint suppliers, he completed his project and made life a little better (and warmer) for some local dogs waiting on their new owners.
You can read the whole story here. Great job, Matt – Boy Scout Gives Dogs a Warm Home.
Boy Scout Saves Brother’s Life – Earns Heroism Award
Back in April, James (12) and Austin (7) Fackrell were enjoying a vacation at Six Flags in Vallejo, California with their parents.James had previously learned swimming safety, emergency response and first aid in his Troop – Troop 855 in Grass Valley. So James couldn’t have been more prepared when he suddenly found his little brother beginning to drown in the deep end of the hotel swimming pool.
James rushed to the pool, dove in and saved his brother’s life. This week, he received the Heroism Award by the National Council of Boy Scouts of America, only one of about 3,000 awarded in the last 90 years! Read the whole story here – Penn Valley Boy Scout Earns Rare Medal. Way to go James!
New Eagle Scout Is Town’s First In Over 25 Years
The small town of Greenfield, Illinois used to be home to lots of Boy Scouts. But when their Scoutmaster passed away back in the 1980s, the program fizzled and went into hibernation. In 2005, it was revived and Troop 22 was back and ready for action.
This week, Daniel Harpole is being recognized as the town’s first Eagle Scout in over 25 years. Congratulations Daniel!
Daniel plans on becoming an assistant Scoutmaster when he turns 18 and plans to keep the Scouts active and thriving in his area. Read all about it here – Eagle Scout is Town’s First in Years.
Well, that’s it for this week, guys. As usual, we encourage everyone to leave a comment below with your thoughts and comments. Or, if there is a story we missed, you can let us know too.
Tell all your Scouting buddies about us and have a great week!