We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Articles

Bikes for the World

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Dhruv S. of Troop 1983 in Oakton, VA, is an avid biker. He knows how great a bike can be not only for leisure but also for practical uses such as transportation. So when Dhruv heard Bikes for the World was looking for volunteers, he jumped at the opportunity. Bikes for the World is an organization that collects, refurbishes, and ships bikes to impoverished communities around the world. He loved volunteering at their warehouse and seeing the pictures of people enjoying the bikes they had received. Dhruv wanted to contribute more to that happiness when people received their bikes, so for his Eagle Scout project, he decided to hold a bike drive with a goal to collect 50 bikes.

Dhruv began by designing flyers to reach out to his community about the collection drive. He posted them throughout his town and in nearby shopping centers. He also shared a digital version of the poster on Nextdoor and Facebook to reach even more people. Then Dhruv began to receive messages. Some people were able to drop off their bikes during the scheduled collection time. For those who couldn’t, he picked up their bikes ahead of time and stored them in his garage. On the day of the drive, Dhruv and some friends transported the bikes from the garage to the site at Vale United Methodist Church, his troop’s sponsoring organization, and the bike drive officially began. It lasted for five hours, and Dhruv managed to collect 130 bikes! They collected so many bikes that the truck that came to pick them up couldn’t contain them all. Dhruv quickly taught his volunteers how to disassemble the bikes so they could fit in the truck.

Having completed his project and sent these bikes to their new homes, Dhruv said, “ I enjoyed leading and teaching my friends how to disassemble the bikes, and I heard from them that it was a rewarding and satisfying process. I learned the value of time management by setting timelines and schedules for myself to make sure I was on track. I also learned the value of good communication through teaching my volunteers effectively how to prep the bikes. All in all, I think it was a successful project!”

RECHARTERING NOW OPEN!

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The annual unit rechartering process has begun!

Rechartering is an important part of a unit’s annual process. It helps ensure that your member rosters and contact info are up to date. It is also a good opportunity to review your unit’s volunteer leadership and make plans for the future.

Recharter applications are to be submitted in November 2020. To help with this process, the Internet Recharter application is now available online. Further information can be obtained from http://www.ncacbsa.org/recharter.

A Brand New Gaga

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David W. of Troop 291 in Gaithersburg, MD, has always loved playing Gaga, a type of dodgeball game. He especially enjoyed playing at Westleigh pool, but when he heard that they were losing members, he wanted to help improve the facility to help attract new members. So after consulting some board members David began work on creating a new Gaga pit.

Just as David was about to begin, COVID-19 struck and he had to put his plans on hold. So David and his dad decided to prep some of the work needed for the pit, doing as much as they were able to in their garage. Once he could back out to the pool, he was able to touch up the paint on the wood for the pit and begin digging and filling holes to place the sixteen posts that would outline the pit. Unfortunately, once they got near the end three of the posts did not line up. He had to adjust all three beams so they’d be aligned properly.

Once the entire project was completed, David was glad to see everything fall into place and to have had the chance to work with all his volunteers. He felt as if he learned quite a bit, saying, “I learned I am a lot more equipped from my time at Scouting than I thought. Leading up to it, I was very nervous, but once Scouts arrived and we began working, everything fell into place and was extremely rewarding.”

NCAC Service Areas Will Realign Jan. 1, 2021

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NCAC is committed to providing a quality Scouting experience for all of our youth members and adult volunteers.  Due to a recent vacancy on our management team and recent promotion of one of our Field Directors, the National Capital Area Council volunteer and staff leadership discussed an opportunity to streamline our professional organizational chart.  The leadership of National Capital Area Council strongly believed in maintaining the size of our professional staff during COVID-19 to ensure our member families continue to receive excellent support in Scouting activities. To this end, we will be realigning our service areas over the next several weeks effective Jan 1, 2021. This change will not impact program at the unit or district levels, so most of our volunteers will not see any disruption, but it will allow the professional staff to align around naturally occurring groupings in our community.  This is will also help support both volunteer and staff development with the creation of a natural pipeline of leaders that can assume larger roles in our Council in the years to come.

Effective January 1, 2021, NCAC’s districts will be arranged into the following Service Areas:

Maryland Service Area:

  • Francis Scott Key
  • Potomac
  • Seneca
  • Patuxent
  • Western Shore
  • White Oak
  • USVI/Direct Service

Virginia Central:

  • Chain Bridge
  • Colonial
  • George Mason
  • Old Dominion
  • Patriot
  • Washington DC
  • Scouting CARES

Virginia South:

  • Goose Creek
  • Powhatan
  • Sully
  • Piedmont
  • Prince William
  • Aquia
  • Mattaponi

To find your District Executive please go to http://ncacbsa.org/staff. Our cheerful, friendly team of professionals are always happy to be of service!