IRVING, Texas, March 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — This week, 13 youth delegates from across the United States will represent the Boy Scouts of America in Washington, D.C., to present the organization’s annual Report to the Nation to top U.S. officials. The report, designated in the BSA’s congressional charter, details the impact millions of Scouts and Scouting volunteers have made throughout 2019.
“The accomplishments and milestones achieved in 2019 reinforce the important role that Scouting plays in the lives of young people and our communities,” said Roger C. Mosby, President and CEO of the Boy Scouts of America. “From standing up to bullying to recovering hundreds of acres of wilderness after the Ute Park Fire, this past year saw millions of young people join together to improve our communities, through actions big and small. I am both inspired and optimistic about what that means for the future of the organization and, more importantly, for our nation.”
Being selected as a Report to the Nationdelegate from among approximately 2.1 million youth members is an honor for BSA youth members. The delegates were selected due to their outstanding representation of the values BSA strives to instill in our nation’s young people. Each delegate represents their communities, as well as more than 130 million youth members who have been part of the BSA and the millions who will follow. The 2019 delegation includes:
- Zachary Bryant; Atlanta, Georgia
- Hannah Carter; Santa Ana, California
- Maya Chimal; Kennewick, Washington
- Isabella Tunney; St. Paul, Minnesota
- Bryan Fencl Jr.; San Diego, California
- Laura Sun; San Jose, California
- Keerthin Karthikeyan; Tupelo, Mississippi
- Terry Hendriex; Peoria, Illinois
- David Taylor; Florence, South Carolina
- Jaden Jenkins; Enid, Oklahoma
- Pamela Petterchak; St. Louis, Missouri
- Gisselle Lugo; Massapequa, New York
- Zachary Schonfeld; Bethesda, Maryland
The delegation will deliver the annual report to key members of U.S. federal government leadership. To keep track of the Report to the Nation delegates during their time in Washington, D.C., watch for daily blog posts on Bryan on Scoutingand follow Scouting magazine on Facebook and Twitter. You can also view photos updated daily on BSA’s Flickr page. The complete Report to the Nation is available online at ScoutingNewsroom.org. Highlights from the report include:
- More than 150,000 young women joined Cub Scouting and Scouts BSA by the end of 2019.
- Scouts provided more than 13.2 million hours of service to their communities at a value of more than $335 million (based on a national volunteer-hour value of $25.43).
- A record 61,353 Scouts earned the Eagle Scout Award, beating the 2012 record. Earning the Eagle Scout rank requires the completion of an extensive service project, which resulted in more than $218 million in community service.
- Nearly 900,000 Scouts attended BSA high-adventure camps in West Virginia, New Mexico, Minnesota, and Florida, as well as thousands of Scout day and summer camps.
- In all, Scouts across all programs camped a total of more than 5 million nights during 2019.
- Scouts earned more than 1.7 million merit badges in 138 different subjects.
- The co-ed Exploring program celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2019, marking decades of helping young people explore future careers, from law enforcement to healthcare, teaching to STEM.
- For the first time in more than 50 years, the World Scout Jamboree was held in North America, where more than 40,000 attendees from more than 150 nations gathered at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia.
- The iconic Philmont Scout Ranch, which suffered extensive damage from the Ute Park Fire, reopened in 2019 thanks to more than 71,000 hours of service provided by hundreds of Scouts, Venturers, and volunteers. Soon after, the National High-Adventure Base welcomed more than 24,000 campers, making it Philmont’slargest summer ever.
The BSA is proud to be a part of preparing our young people for life and for leadership, and the organization looks forward to helping shape tomorrow’s leaders for many years to come.
About the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” The Scouting organization is composed of more than 2.1 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and approximately 800,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.Scouting.org.
SOURCE The Boy Scouts of America
