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Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

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Scouting for Food Marks 40 Years of Fighting Hunger as Scouts Unite for Nationwide Scouting America Day of Service During America250

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October 5, 2026, Washington, DC – For 40 years, Scouts across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region have come together with a shared mission: helping neighbors in need. This milestone year, Scouting America National Capital Area Council (NCAC) will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Scouting for Food, one of the region’s largest and longest-running community food drives, while joining Scouts from across the nation in a historic Scouting America Day of Service as part of the America250 celebration. 

On Saturday, November 14, 2026, thousands of Scouts, leaders, parents, and volunteers will fan out across neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia to collect non-perishable food donations for over 75 local food banks, pantries, and community organizations serving families facing food insecurity. See the map of collection locations: https://ncacscouting.org/scouting-for-food/. 

This year’s effort is part of Scouting America’s National Day of Service, as Scouts across the United States unite in communities large and small to commemorate our nation’s 250th anniversary through meaningful acts of service that strengthen neighborhoods and demonstrate the power of civic engagement. 

“For four decades, Scouting for Food has shown what can happen when young people lead with compassion and purpose,” said Mario A. Pérez, CEO/Scout Executive of the National Capital Area Council. “As our nation celebrates America250, Scouts are demonstrating that service remains one of our country’s most enduring values. Thousands of young people will spend this day helping others, proving that even the smallest acts of kindness can create a lasting impact.” 

The weekend before the collection, Scouts will distribute door hangers throughout neighborhoods across the region. Residents who receive the notice are encouraged to place non-perishable food donations outside their homes by the morning of November 14 for collection by local Scout units. 

The annual campaign comes at a critical time as many families continue to struggle with rising food costs and increased demand on charitable food assistance programs. Donations collected through Scouting for Food help stock pantry shelves ahead of the busy holiday season when community needs are often greatest. 

Last year, Scouts collected more than 753,000 pounds of food, benefiting local food banks and hunger-relief organizations throughout the Council’s service area. Our Scouts hope the 40th anniversary campaign will inspire even greater participation from communities across the region to reach a 1-million pound goal. 

 

A Story of Service, Youth Leadership, and Community Impact 

Scouting for Food offers reporters and photographers compelling visual and human-interest storytelling opportunities, including: 

  • Thousands of youth volunteers participating in one of the region’s largest community service projects. 
  • The 40th Anniversary of a program that has mobilized generations of Scouts and families. 
  • Local food donations being delivered directly to over 75 organizations serving families in need. 
  • Scouts participating in Scouting America’s National Day of Service as part of the America250 celebration. 
  • Interviews with youth leaders, community volunteers, nonprofit partners, and elected officials. 
  • Powerful visuals of food collection, sorting, loading, and distribution efforts throughout the region. 

 

Most-Needed Food Items 

  • Canned proteins (tuna, chicken, salmon) 
  • Peanut butter 
  • Pasta, rice, and other grains 
  • Whole-grain cereal and oatmeal 
  • Canned vegetables and fruits 

 

About Scouting America and the National Capital Area Council 

Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®” Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Our goal is to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow with us in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have been through our programs since our founding, and currently more than one million youth are served by 477,000 adult volunteers in local councils throughout the country. To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit https://beascout.scouting.org/ 

Scouting America National Capital Area Council (NCAC) was organized in 1911 and today stands as one of the oldest and largest councils in America. Scouts from the NCAC do over 400,000 hours of community service each year. The Council territory includes the District of Columbia; Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland; and in Virginia the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Stafford and Culpeper as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg in Virginia. For more information, please visit www.ncacscouting.org/

Canoeing the North Maine Woods – Troop 380 DC

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Three Scouts and three adult leaders from Troop 380 (Capitol Hill) spent August 2–9 on a wilderness canoe trek at Maine High Adventure Base at Matagamon, on the northeast edge of Baxter State Park. After a two-day drive from Washington, the crew designed its own route with an MHA guide — favoring rivers over lakes, moderate whitewater, and a real share of portaging — then spent eight days paddling, portaging, and camping in the largest undeveloped forest east of the Mississippi. Along the way they navigated wind and current across open water, cooked every dinner over an open fire, purified their own water, and stored food beneath overturned canoes in the North Woods style.

The trek was youth-led from the first evening. Scouts ran the cooking rotation, built the fires, tracked mileage against the map, and made the daily calls on when to push for the next campsite and when to wait out the wind. One of the week’s best moments came early, when the crew leader assigned a fellow Scout to run dinner before stepping away — a small act of delegation that set the tone for the rest of the trip. By the final days the adults were mostly passengers.

The wilderness held up its end. The crew spotted two moose from the water on the eighth day, an otter the next morning, and had clear night skies most of the week. They came home tired, filthy, and already asking about the next trip. Troop 380 recommends Maine High Adventure to any unit looking for a genuine backcountry experience close to home — it’s a smaller program than the national bases, and all the better for it.

Camp Catoctin Honors America 250 with Flag Retirement Ceremony

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Against the backdrop of Catoctin Mountain Park, Scouts, Scouters, staff, veterans, first responders, and community partners gathered at Camp Catoctin for a moving America 250 Flag Retirement Ceremony commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States and reflecting on the enduring ideals of citizenship, service, sacrifice, and responsibility. The ceremony featured remarks from three distinguished guests: Marcia Deppen, Interim Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security; Joe Darling, Chief Ranger at Catoctin Mountain Park, National Park Service; and Mario Perez, Scout Executive for the National Capital Area Council. Each offered a unique perspective on service, citizenship, leadership, and the responsibility we all share in strengthening our communities and our nation.

Their remarks connected the history and symbolism of the American flag with the values Scouts strive to live each day. The ceremony also included participation from veterans, first responders, Scouts, Scouters, and Camp Catoctin staff—representing generations of individuals committed to serving others. The presence of veterans and first responders made the ceremony especially meaningful, offering Scouts a visible reminder that service takes many forms—from military service and public safety to volunteerism, civic engagement, and leadership within our communities.

As American flags that had reached the end of their service were respectfully retired, Scouts experienced the principles of the Scout Oath and Scout Law in a powerful and tangible way. The ceremony was about more than retiring flags; it was an opportunity to understand what those flags represent and to recognize the responsibility each generation carries to preserve the ideals of citizenship, service, and respect. As America marks its 250th anniversary, Camp Catoctin was proud to commemorate this historic milestone in a way uniquely suited to Scouting: gathering together in the outdoors, honoring those who serve, reflecting on our shared history, and inspiring young people to consider the role they will play in our nation’s future.

It was a fitting reminder that while we honor the history represented by our flag, its future rests in the hands of the young people we are preparing to lead, to serve, and to make their mark on the world.

Written by Jeffrey Huggins, Camp Director of Camp Catoctin

Teaching the Next Generation to Protect Our Waterways: Charlotte’s Eagle Scout Project

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Charlotte, a Scout from Troop 130 in Alexandria, VA, was recently featured by ALXnow (Everything Alexandria) for her Eagle Scout project, which helps teach young people about protecting local waterways and the environment.

Charlotte is an artist and a budding biologist with hopes of a pre-med track in college. As she works toward earning the Eagle Scout rank, she has combined those two interests into her focus for her Eagle Scout project and created an educational resource designed to inspire children to become environmental stewards and understand how their everyday actions can make a difference. Her project reflects the spirit of Scouting by combining leadership, service, and a commitment to making a lasting impact in the community.

Projects like Charlotte’s demonstrate how Scouts identify needs, develop creative solutions, and lead efforts that benefit others. By focusing on environmental education, she is helping empower the next generation to care for the world around them.

Learn more about Charlotte’s project, her inspiration, and the educational resource she created in ALXnow’s feature story.

Read Charlotte’s Full Feature Story: ALXnow

Phezulu Nangaphezulu: My Journey to the 2nd African Scout Moot

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Flying the flag of Seychelles

A Journey to South Africa

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of the United States Contingent to the 2nd African Scout Moot at Arrowe Park. The Moot brought together Scouts and young adults from approximately 30 countries across the globe, creating an experience that was much more than an ordinary camping event. It was an opportunity to experience Scouting through the eyes of people from across Africa and around the world.

The theme of the Moot was “Phezulu Nangaphezulu,” meaning “Higher and Higher.” Throughout the week, I found that this theme represented much more than the activities we participated in. It inspired us to challenge ourselves, learn from others, serve our communities, and build a better understanding of the world and people around us.

USA Contingent

I was one of five participants representing the United States within our contingent of twelve. While we come from the same country, the Moot is designed to bring people from different countries together.

The real adventure begins.

For this regional Moot, participants were divided into different paths, each offering a different adventure: Hiking, Gig Adventure (rowing), Heritage, and Caving. I chose caving.

My path was named Inyanga, meaning “Moon,” and our adventure became known as Inyanga Caving. Our group consisted of 26 participants from 11 different countries, with two awesome Path Advisors Wagner and Ruth from Brazil and Kenya respectively.

Trying new foods during Cultural Day

My patrol consisted of six people: Nomfundo and Sinethemba (Boke) from South Africa, Jorge from Angola, Thomas from Italy, Rayhaan from Mauritius, and of course me from the United States. Even though we came from very different backgrounds, we quickly became a well performing team.

Throughout the Moot, we participated in a variety of activities designed to challenge us in different ways.

Veldcraft focused on outdoor skills, including pioneering, ropes, and problem solving. My favorite activity during Veldcraft was taking a raft and racing another patrol across Homestead Lake situated right at Arrowe Park. My team won after struggling with keeping the raft afloat. I almost slipped into the cold water more times than I can count.

Vigil gave us an opportunity to slow down and reflect through activities such as dance, music, and bead making. I loved learning a traditional Zulu dance. A signature move was a leg kick that raised above the head and come after a big stomp with that same foot.

Gijima brought out our competitive side with volleyball, kayaking, and traditional South African games. I never thought I would be playing South African chess!

Fabrik introduced us to technology and innovation through radio, robotics, and radar. We were able to build our own robot to take home.

Each activity showed me another side of Scouting. Some activities were familiar, while others were completely new. What connected all of them was the idea that learning does not always happen in a classroom. Maybe it happens while building a pioneering structure with someone you just met, or… figuring out a problem with your patrol, or… laughing together over a game whose rules could be bent!

Ubuntu: Service Through Community

Ubuntu Community Service

Before our overnight Sho’t Left adventure of caving, we participated in a community service project called Ubuntu. Ubuntu is often associated with the idea that our humanity is connected to the humanity of others.

We worked with recycled plastic bottles and microplastics to create makeshift bricks that could contribute to the construction of an elementary school.

It was simple but it reminded us that service does not always require enormous amounts of resources. Things that may seem like waste can become something useful with the combined efforts of people working together with creativity and purpose.

For me, Ubuntu demonstrated one of the most important parts of Scouting: leaving a legacy that will impact others, helping them grow to become bridgebuilders of our world.

Sho’t Left adventure: Caving

I would never think I would venture into narrow tunnels with just a mining hardhat and a harness. Walking into what they called “Bat Cave” sent shivers as I was dropped in. There were tons of bats flying about. We were covered head to toe in dirt.

Inyanga Caving Sho’t Left
After Caving

 

Walking in Baden-Powell’s Footsteps

After our Sho’t Left adventure, we had the opportunity to visit Modderfontein, a location connected to Robert Baden-Powell’s time in South Africa.

Walking through a place where Baden-Powell once lived gave me a different perspective on Scouting’s history. It was fascinating to see how the movement’s early history was connected to South Africa and physically walk through areas that influenced the development of Scouting.

It reminded me that Scouting has grown far beyond its origins. Scouting has become a worldwide movement, with young people taking part in countries and cultures Baden-Powell could never have foreseen.

Egoli: Discovering Johannesburg

Another major part of the Moot was our Egoli tour, which gave us the opportunity to explore Johannesburg and learn about South African history and culture.

We visited the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre and the Africa Museum, explored Soweto, and visited the former home of Nelson Mandela.

One of the most meaningful parts of the tour was learning about the history of the Soweto Uprising, which includes the story of a young student who was killed while protesting the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

Johannesburg was not just a destination. It became part of the education of the Moot.

A Village of Global Scouting

One of my favorite parts of the Moot was the Development Village.

The area brought together organizations and initiatives from across the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Booths highlighted programs including:

* Messengers of Peace
* Scouts for SDGs
* Safe From Harm
* Ticket to Life
* Dialogue for Peace
* Interreligious Dialogue
* Life Leaders
* Digitalize Youth
* Scouts Go Solar
* Kandersteg International Scout Centre
* World Scout Moot 2029 Taiwan

For someone interested in international Scouting, this was an incredible opportunity to see just how many possibilities exist beyond our local councils and Scouting America.

The most memorable sight was a small island with a pole pointing toward Scout centers across the world. Surrounding it were the flags of the countries represented at the Moot, along with the flags of the 54 countries of the Africa region.

Not every African country was represented by a participant at the Moot. However, their flags were still flown.

I had the honor of carrying the flag of Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.

Standing there amongst the many flags, I was touched. Each flag represents a country, a culture, and a community of Scouts, and we all gathered together for the same movement.

Learning Across Cultures

I believe that the greatest lesson I learned from the Moot was the importance of diversity and inclusion. I expected there to be many cultural differences. Those differences would affect the way we communicated, planned, and worked together.

At times, language became a genuine challenge. English was not everyone’s first language, and there were moments when I had to pull out Google Translate just to communicate an idea or understand what someone was trying to tell me.

There were also differences in how people approached situations. Something that seemed obvious to me could be completely unfamiliar to someone else. Equally, I encountered approaches that I would never have considered back home.

These differences were frustrating.

Over the week, I realized that these differences were what made the experience special.

There is no single way to lead, no single way to organize a patrol, and no single way to experience Scouting.

The uniforms, the activities, the traditions, the languages can all be different.

Underneath all of those differences are the same Scouting ideals and mission.

Scouting is about empowering our young people.

The Privilege of International Scouting

One of the most humbling lessons I learned was how fortunate I am to have access to these international Scouting opportunities.

Traveling internationally can be difficult. For many of the people I met, opportunities to travel outside their country or participate in international Scouting events are much harder to access.

That made me appreciate this experience in a completely different way.

This is a privilege and a responsibility.

To take what I learned and share it with other Scouts at home.

International Scouting is about building relationships, understanding other cultures, and realizing that the movement we participate in at home is part of something much larger.

Phezulu Nangaphezulu.

Higher and higher.

I am excited to see where Scouting takes me next.

Patrick C.

Picture 1: Flying the flag of Seychelles
Picture 2: USA Contingent
Picture 3: Trying new foods during Cultural Day
Picture 4: Ubuntu Community Service
Picture 5: Inyanga Caving Sho’t Left
Picture 6: After Caving

Credits:
World Scouting Bureau Inc. / Johnathan Law, Lars Backes