We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout coordinating rescue efforts following floods in Central Texas

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U.S. Coast Guard Commander Nathan Shakespeare is the Air Operations Officer out of Corpus Christi, TX spearheading the Coast Guard’s rescue operations down in Central Texas following the devastating flooding from July 4. Commander Shakespeare is an Eagle Scout with Troop 698 from Burke, VA.

On July 8, NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed Commander Shakespeare regarding the rescue operations in Central Texas.

Listen to the full interview: U.S. Coast Guard aids in rescue operation following floods in central Texas : NPR One

Read the full interview: U.S. Coast Guard aids in rescue operation following floods in central Texas : NPR

Commander Nathan Shakespeare, USCG

Local Life Scout Mobilized his Community to Save Ukrainian Lives

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My name is Nicholas Flanigan and I am a Life Scout from Troop 160, located in Chantilly, VA. Soon after the war started, I mobilized our Troop and community to help meet overwhelming needs in medical supplies, baby items, and food for Ukraine.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 0f 2022, one of my close friends shared concerns about his family in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the hardship they had to face to survive from Russian bombing of their homes and neighborhood. I started thinking about how I might be able to help. My research led to a local nonprofit organization, United Help Ukraine (UHU). This charitable organization receives and distributes donations, food, and medical supplies to people of Ukraine affected by Russia’s invasion and families of those wounded or killed for freedom and independence of Ukraine.

I reached out to the Board members of this organization in March of 2022, inquiring how I could help. After a month of conversations and successful presentations to over 20 Board members of UHU, District Eagle Advisor, and Troop 160 Board, my project was approved for planning and execution. My Eagle Advisor recommended I develop a website that allowed me to promote my project within the local community. Website presence helped me to distribute messages about my project via email, in social channels, and local blogs. Because of the valuable advice from my Eagle Advisor I looked into online presence rather than going down the path of distributing many printed flyers, which allowed me to save total costs.

In my research, I discovered that many tech companies like Google, Microsoft/Bing, and Facebook offer opportunities for people supporting nonprofit-related initiatives to receive credits to run free advertising. I took advantage of those free advertising credits to run ads on these digital networks to get my project known throughout the community. I also used local blogs and platforms, Patch.com and NextDoor, to inform my neighbors about this effort.

My project took many months to plan. I spent over 300 hours developing the site, made digital ads, wrote articles, and reached out to many local organizations and nearby Troops for help. I partnered with a local church, Fairfax Church of Christ, to use their building and parking lot for my donation drive. I also led my Troop to distribute printed flyers in adjacent neighborhoods to amplify my online efforts. Just under 100 people helped me to make this project a success.

My project was completed on 2 weekends. On June 4th, many scouts, volunteers from the church, and parents helped to pack supplies previously donated to the church to support this effort. They packed and loaded over 100 boxes to a truck ready to take everything to an airport in Delaware for air shipment to Ukraine. We packed almost 80 boxes of food, baby items and medical supplies, and collected 70 boxes of diapers. On the same day, almost 20 scout volunteers from Troup 160 distributed over 3,000 flyers to neighborhood houses. On June 11th, we collected donated medical supplies, baby items, and food essentials from the same houses. My goal to collect and pack an additional 40 boxes was exceeded with a total of 55 additional boxes, despite poor weather conditions and heavy rain at collection time.

I am very proud of the work my Troop and I did because of its impact and because it helped to save lives. I want people to know about the work that takes place to support Ukraine and other countries in the same circumstances around the world.

I received many compliments and recognition for our efforts from my Troop, local leaders, the media, and UHU. My project was featured in the National Morning in America episode on May 27th as one of the top feel-good stories across the U.S. and covered in the local Fairfax Times newspaper and by Patch.com.

As a result of my efforts, I received a personalized letter from Chairman McKay from Fairfax County Government. In his letter, Chairman McKey congratulated me on the tremendous success of my project and how impressed he was with my commitment to helping others. He recognized my leadership skills for being able to gather dozens of fellow scouts, friends, and neighbors to help accomplish this goal. Of course it was easier with a helpful Troup backing me up!

“It is true that we all do far better when we work together”, stated Chairman McKay in his letter. “I am encouraged about the future of Fairfax County and our nation when I read what young people like you are doing to heal the breaches in our society.”

I hope to receive my Eagle Rank in October after completing the last Eagle-required merit badge, Scoutmaster conference, and the Eagle Scout Board of Review. I will continue my role in scouting as an ASPL, giving back to my Troop by helping and leading others. I am a proud member of the Order of the Arrow BSA Honor society and participated in 3 high adventure camps. Throughout my scouting career, I earned 77 merit badges, and seven distinguished scout awards. I also volunteered as a Counselor in Training this past summer at Camp Snyder, a BSA camp in Haymarket, VA, and will return to the camp as their trained Counselor next summer.

Troop 1920’s three new Eagles, and its’ Significant Number

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On February 1, 2019, girls were officially allowed to join the Boy Scouts of America’s Scouts BSA program.

Since then, there have been 3 female eagle scouts in the Seneca District and all 3 of them have come from our troop!

For our troop, we chose troop number 1920 because it was the year women got the right to vote in the US, and as a brand new girl’s troop, we thought it was only fitting.

These 3 scouts, Bethany Hurt, Elora West, and Samantha Vidas have just been awarded their Eagle awards and we couldn’t be more proud!

They have done so much for our troop and the people around them from teaching another scout the square knot, to being senior patrol leaders. We are so proud of everything they’ve done and we hope they continue to help people in their daily lives as adults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covid didn’t stop these Eagle Scouts

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Reposted from Annandale Today with permission.

The Covid pandemic has been hard for everyone, and that includes members of Scout troops. Nevertheless, three members of Troop 1525, all graduating seniors, were recognized for attaining Eagle Scout status at a Court of Honor ceremony June 7.

“We are calling them Covid Eagles because they all performed their service projects and earned their Eagle rank during Covid,” says Phillip Sandino, scoutmaster of Troop 1525, which is based at St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Annandale.

Boy Scouts from Troop 1525 and helpers work on cubbies for the Canterbury Woods pool.

Tommy Nguyen, a graduate of Woodson High School, removed invasive plant species at the South Run Rec Center for his Eagle project.

Another Woodson graduate, Cal Sandino, built storage cubbies for the Canterbury Woods Swim Club.

For his Eagle project, Robinson Secondary School graduate Ike Walker built bat boxes for his community pool to attract bats as a way to reduce the mosquito population.

Troop 1525 adopted new procedures during the past two years due to Covid, Sandino said. Meetings were held online, and the troop focused on individual activities, such as hiking and biking.

Instead of two-day camping trips, the scouts stayed local, exploring such places as Rock Creek Park and Roosevelt Island. And because carpooling wasn’t allowed, parents had to drive the boys to activities individually.

Troop 492B’s First Eagle Scout!

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Troop 492B, founded in 2019, just had its first Eagle Scout pass his Board of Review on June 17th! Troop 492B, part of the White Oak District, is a small, but very active troop in Rockville, MD, and has earned JTE Gold every year since it started.

Michael Browning joined the BSA as the small troop was forming, and is a founding member. Michael’s Eagle Project was a renovation of his church’s outdoor sanctuary area. He ranked up to Eagle with 42 merit badges and numerous other awards. Michael’s BoR was just 10 days after his 14th birthday, so he has many more adventures planned for his scouting career. This week he is off at NYLT, and his troop – and their linked girls’ troop, 492G – will be heading off to Camp Olmstead at Goshen Scout Reservation at the end of July. He has already signed up for Jamboree 2023 – and is working hard to get as many of the rest of Troops 492 to go with him.

Pictured: Michael after his Eagle Board of Review with Michael Cooke, his Scoutmaster, who is a fellow Eagle Scout! (Taken by Laura Browning)

Eagle Scout Sends 168 Bikes to Sierra Leone

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Manav G. of Troop 1983 grew up in India. There he saw extreme poverty first-hand, with families begging in the street to feed their children, and the daily struggles of the people were impoverished. As a result, when he moved to America at age 9, Manav was struck by the luxuries and privileges that many Americans took for granted.

When he joined Scouts BSA to find a community and friends in his new hometown, Manav immediately latched on to the Scouting message of giving back to and raising up others. His dedication extended even to his favorite merit badge, Citizenship in the World, which allowed him to, in his eyes, “see my impact and the ways I can make the world a better place and help, even as a 13 or 15-year-old kid.” So when the time came for his Eagle Project, Manav knew he wanted something that gave back globally. So he collaborated to create a Bike Drive with Bikes For The World. This leading non-profit organization collects unwanted bikes from across America to supply community development programs in impoverished areas of developing nations. The bikes he collected would be destined for Sierra Leone, where children would use them for recreation and adults for their business and travel.

Manav spent the eight days leading up to the bike drive in a focused marketing mode. Worried that, even in a city, there were only so many people with bikes and fewer willing to donate, Manav ensured that his project would reach a broad audience. He combined online social media postings with paper fliers put up in key locations around the city. He also contacted local churches, attended online meetings, and went in person to speak wherever he could. Though the Scout wished he had even more time to continue raising awareness, Manav’s efforts had paid off when the day of the drive came.

Despite his worries about the short marketing period, Manav’s drive was an overwhelming success. Like clockwork, as bikes came in, Manav’s team would quickly offload and begin dismantling them to make it cheaper and easier to transport them abroad. The team would then load the dismantled bikes onto trucks headed for the Bikes of the World headquarters. Such was the massive amount of bikes collected that, at one point, the Scout remembered they covered more than two entire parking spots. With 168 bikes collected, Manav’s project had blown past his troop’s prior record, beating the previous highest bike drive by over 60 bikes.

Though his project has concluded, Manav remains dedicated to helping others worldwide. Manav holds monthly bake sales for the AURED Trust, which supplies hearing aids to hearing-impaired children throughout India. He is also currently interning with an organization dedicated to providing free vaccinations throughout rural America. He plans to study business in college and use his studies to find an intersection between finance and conservation.

Manav urges Scouts to “make the push to Eagle. It’s so worth it. When you look back, it will be such a learning experience and it will be so worth it. There are always going to be things you don’t expect, but try to work around that, and you’ll find all the fun you have with it.”