We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Scouts BSA

Star Scout Organizes “No Contact” Food Drive

by

With the worldwide pandemic, social distancing and quarantining many may have taken this opportunity to stock your cupboards, pantries, fridges, freezers and bathrooms with food to last you a few weeks or months. If you were able to do this, please consider yourself lucky.  There are plenty of individuals and families out there that rely on the good nature of others to put food on their plates.  In some instances, that food is coming from local food banks. 

Unfortunately during these crazy times, food banks begin to run dangerously low on supplies. In response to this Star Scout, Landon Hummel from Troop 1378 in Dale City, VA decided to organize a “no contact” food drive.  Landon contacted the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) and obtained information on how to get the food to them safely.  He then made a flyer, sent out an email to his Troop with instructions and all the information about the drive.

Sunday March 29th, the Landon and his mother drove around the Prince William County area to collect donations. They created a route using the addresses in all of the reply emails in order to give participants a time frame for pickup. They maintained social distancing by asking participants to leave their donations outside and just wave to us from the window. With the assistance of his mom, he collected 162 pounds of food for the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

To learn more about how you can give please visit the Arlington Food Assistance Center website. Items that they are specifically asking for are: canned tuna/chicken, canned soups, canned vegetables, canned tomatoes, peanut butter (in plastic jars only), pasta and rice. 

Troop 13 Virtual Family Campout

by

 

After their first month of virtual troop meeting, and a scheduled campout on the way, Senor Patrol Leader Connor Gephart saw the opportunity to maintain troop spirit and believed Troop 13 was ready to take their virtual meeting experience to the campground. That Saturday morning, April 18th, wouldn’t see the usual start of the Troop 13 family campout. Instead of gathering at the Church of the Good Shepherd, and preparing to drive off to the beach, scouts and their families gathered in their living rooms with camping equipment in hand.


Members of the troop and their families set up tents in their yards, played games, went for hikes and explored local trails, built fires, and worked on rank advancement requirements. Including a Patrol Leader meeting virtually with one of his patrol members.


The Scouts and their family fixed dinner outside enjoying the afternoon spring sunshine, when around 8pm with family campfires burning and the sun setting the members of Troop 13 gather both around their own campfires and digital devices to join zoom and share their adventures from the day, just as thousands of Scouts have done for over 100 years before them. The Senior Patrol Leader lead the discussion asking the Scout about their adventures that the day had brought, and as the campfire was winding down Scouts participated in Thorns and Roses, where many thorns were about not being together and enjoying the fun of camping in the woods as a Troop.


After the Senior Patrol Leader closed the campfire Scouts and their families retired to their tents to conclude the Troop 13 annual family campout.

Troop 996 Organizes ‘Remote’ Food Drive

by

When we started social distancing and businesses closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, my family and I thought of something our Troop could do to help others. I started to research food pantries and our Scoutmaster suggested we contact the one supported by our chartering organization, Aldersgate United Methodist Church. So I called Rising Hope and asked if we could do a food drive, and they said yes.

So, we sent out an email about the food drive to the Troop then a few days later my brother, my Mom, and I went to Aldersgate parking lot to wait for Scout families to drive by and drop off food. Then the next day my Mom and I went to Rising Hope and delivered the food.

I felt good about organizing this because the food will be given to people that need it and we live out the Scout Law (Helpful, Kind) even when we can’t have regular Troop meetings. A Scout is HELPFUL and KIND.

Troop 35 Scouts “Telecamping” Program – Can’t Keep Good Scouts from Doing!!

by

Scoutmaster Kevin Huddleston of Troop 35, Occoquan District, recently earned his Wood Badge Beads as a successful graduate of NCAC’s Spring 2019 Wood Badge Course, despite the advent and disruption of CORVID-19. What great leadership! What great Scout Spirit! What a great example of Baden-Powell’s quote that: ‘A Scout whistles and smiles under any circumstance.’ You just can’t keep a good Scouter down!”

Scoutmaster Huddleston’s Scouts are following his fine example of Leading Change! Huddleston said that, “I held a Zoom Patrol Leader Council [PLC] meeting; my PLC hate that their parents are ALL telecommuting, as their parents are driving them (the Scouts) crazy. So my Senior Patrol Leader [SL] and two Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders [ASPL] came up with a Patrol Competition called ‘TELECAMPING’. We recorded our intro via Zoom. If you want to use this to keep your Patrols and Troop and Scouts connected, excited and sustained – use away. I’ll let you know how it turns out.”

Below is the YouTube video Huddleston made of his SPL and ASPLs in a Zoom PLC that was then sent to all Troop 35 Patrol Leaders and their Scouts:

We are all looking for ways to keep our Scouts actively engaged, moving forward and Doing their Best. Through youthful enthusiasm, imagination and creativity, Scouts will find a way, when given the opportunity by adults. Well done to the Adult & Youth Leaders of Troop 35!

A final thought from Baden-Powell: “The [Scout] is not governed by don’t, but is led by do.” Let’s keep the doing in Scouting!

Troop 440 Donates 220 Bag Lunches to Homeless Shelter

by

On April 8th, in the day and age of social distancing, our Troop (individually and in their own homes) prepared 220 bag lunches for Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring, MD for “OPERATION SANDWICH.” 

Shepherd Table’s mission is to provide help to people who are homeless or in need by providing basic services, including meals, social services, medical support, clothing, and other assistance in an effective and compassionate manner.

Troop 440 had one Parent/Scout do all the shopping, sorting and delivering of supplies (to porches) and then another Parent/Scout collected the completed lunches from their fellow Scout’s porches the following afternoon and delivered the lunches to Shepherd’s Table. Almost 75% of our Troop families participated and the whole thing was completed in just over 24 hours! Remember a Scout is Helpful.

From Afghanistan to America: How Two Scout Troops Reached Across Cultures

by

What happens when you put two Scout Troops from across the globe together with an internet connection and a combined desire to learn and engage? You get an amazing dialogue of discovery and a realization that as Scouts, they’re more alike than different.

Earlier this month, Scouts from Troop 1345G in Burke Virginia met over video with Scouts from Troop 2 in Kabul Afghanistan to learn, share, and discover. In that 90 minutes over webcams, microphones, and videoconferencing app Zoom, they learned so much of not only what makes them so different but also what makes them so similar.

The special meeting, organized by one of the Troop 1345G’s First Class Scouts, was inspired by Lt Col Natalie Trogus of the United States Marine Corps and Kabul-based nonprofit, PARSA, who led the effort starting in 2008 to restore the Scouting movement in Afghanistan following years of conflict. Lt Col Trogus, currently deployed in Kabul as a Gender Advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, is a parent of one of Troop 1345G’s Star Scouts and serves as one of the Troop’s Assistant Scoutmasters.

Aided by an interpreter, the Scouts shared examples of each country’s traditions, values, and holidays. They spoke about favorite foods and hobbies, about school subjects and sports. The struggled a bit with unfamiliar expressions and explaining traditional foods but soon realized they had so much in common.

You see, as Scouts under the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), these young women in Afghanistan and the United States are both learning and experiencing the essence of Scouting. Over the course of the meeting, they quickly recognized Scouting in both countries focus on life skills, environmental conservation, service to community, and leadership. They learned that they all work on merit badges and strive toward similar advancements and ranks. They could see that their uniforms were more similar than different.

They also realized that despite the different languages and cultures, they share the values and passions of Scouting.

The connection across these two Troops is just starting, with traditional recipes being shared and relationship starting to form, both Troops plan to stay in touch. Through events such as the worldwide Jamboree on the Internet and on future videoconferences, these two sets of young women will continue to break down national and cultural barriers all under the umbrella of Scouting.

About Scouting in Afghanistan

Scouting is a tradition in Afghanistan which goes back nearly 90 years. At its height, there were over 36,000 Afghan youth actively participating in troops around the country, however the program disappeared after the Soviet invasion of 1979 and subsequent years of conflict. Fast- forward to 2008, when the movement was relaunched by a group of dedicated Afghans leaders working together under the guidance of a local nonprofit called PARSA. PARSA raised funds to start two troops in local Kabul orphanages, and the modern Afghan Scouts were born.

Today, PARSA’s Afghan Scouts have over 2,000 youth active in 18 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. In January 2020, Afghanistan rejoined the World Scout Movement as the 171st member, which sets the stage for the Afghan Scouts to become the primary youth leadership program in the country. Their goal is to have 100,000 Afghan youth participating in Scouting by 2030.

Afghan Scout troops are led by enthusiastic volunteer Scout Masters who are trained by senior PARSA Scouts and supported by WOSM. Scouts participate in similar activities to their peers around the world: troops meet weekly, earn merit badges, host an annual Camporee in the summer, and conduct regular community service activities such as tree planting, distributing cloth shopping bags as part of the “Say No to Plastic” campaign, donating libraries and science laboratories to local schools and orphanages, and distributing care packages to hospitals.

About Scouts BSA Troop 1345G 

Scouts BSA Troop 1345G, sponsored by the Burke Centre Conservancy, was founded in February 2019, following the announcement from Boy Scouts of America that girls were permitted to become full participants in the BSA program. The all-female Troop follows the same curriculum and leadership model as Boy Scouts of America has for over 100 years. The troop is led by the girls, elected by their peers and mentored by adult leaders, and focuses on adventure, leadership, learning and service. Girls will also be able to earn the well-respected Eagle Scout award.

In the year since its founding, the Scouts of Troop 1345G have backpacked, canoed, climbed, swam, and volunteered their way on the journey towards Eagle Scout, all under the historic Boys Scouts of America program. Scouts BSA is a year-round program for youth 11-17 years old that provides fun, adventure, learning, challenge, and responsibility to help them become the best version of themselves.