Ogden- Because the aim of the Boy Scouts of America is to, “Prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law,” hundreds of volunteers have been going door to door asking for donations to fund this area’s scout program.
In case anyone is looking for a Boy Scout in full uniform to come to the door, Allen Endicott, Trapper Trails Council executive scout was clear, that will not usually happen. This fundraising event is conducted mostly by the parents of scouts and scout volunteers.
This effort is different than other fundraising efforts made by many troops to raise money so their individual members can attend camps without the cost burdening families. This effort, the Friends of Scouting drive provides funds to keep the camp facilities open and to help fund the cost of the professional staff, which serves about 5000 scouting units.
The Trapper Trails Council invites communities in northern Utah, southeastern Idaho and western Wyoming to support these Boy Scout values by donating to the Friends of Scouting fundraiser. This fundraising campaign is known as the Friends of Scouting.
Scouts and scout supporters are seeking donations through families and businesses. Anyone who wishes to donate money - cash, credit, checks or even jars full of pennies - is invited to call the center at 801-479-5460 if he or she does not know of a local troop.
Volunteers work hard to raise money so Boy Scouts can attend camps.
One recent campout included the Klondike Derby, which requires scouts to load up their homemade sleds and work as a team to pull the craft from station to station. The boys test their scout craft skills at each one, and earn points toward a total score. The derby teaches sportsmanship, another scout value. There are always winners and losers, and scouts must learn to handle both, said Scoutmaster Ken Richey, Troop 231.
Richey’s troop spent a recent meeting preparing their derby sled. The sled had a broken runner, so Lance Jenkins, 18, drilled holes in a set of skis donated for the sled.
Another reason to support scouting is so young men such as Jenkins can learn to benefit the community. As part of the Eagle Scout Rank each young man completes a project to serve in the community. This service goal undoubtedly has an impact everywhere the boys have a troop.
Community donations are part of why Jenkins is now an Eagle Scout, which means he earned a minimum of 21 merit badges and completed a leadership project. He is one of the 1,462 boys in the Trapper Trails Council who became Eagle Scouts during the past year. One at a time, all of these scouts benefit their communities with each project.
“I’ve learned to work hard and how to get along with other people,” Jenkins said. “I think I wouldn’t have done half the things I have in my life if I hadn’t been involved in scouting.”
Financial support from the community is needed to fund the events such as the wintertime Klondike Derby and the summertime weeklong camps. Camps that are under the Trapper Trails Council stewardship include: Camp Aspen Ridge, Camp Bartlett, Camp Browning, Camp Fife, Camp Hunt, Camp Kiesel, Camp Loll, and Camp New Fork. These camps range from as far north as the southern border of Yellowstone National Park to the Wind River Range in Wyoming to just up the canyon east of Ogden.
Every activity with the scouts should reflect the Scout Oath and Law: Scouts should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent: It’s a lot of words to remember.
Allen Endicott, Trapper Trails Council executive scout, rolls out those words with commitment and determination. Those words are everything a Boy Scout should be, he said, and everything in the scouting program is geared toward developing someone who has that kind of character.
“Scouting is an important part of the fabric of our community,” Endicott said. “It has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men and adult leaders.”
Registration for camps is ahead of last year and scout membership passed 48,000 scouts in 2012 in the Trapper Trails Council, Endicott said.
