NORWICH – Along with numerous other organizations during these difficult financial times, the Boy Scouts of America has seen a substantial drop in membership over the past three years, said District Commissioner George Blood.
However, according to Blood, the Chenango County district leaders are making a number of pushes to draw more applicants.
Since its founding in 1910, the BSA has grown to more than 4.5 million members, making it one of the largest youth organizations in the United States. Scouting’s primary goals are to “build character, train them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and developing personal fitness.”
Scouting isn’t only an asset to the individual scouts, said Blood, but also to the community at large.
“Scouting involves a lot of community service ... volunteerism,” he explained. “They provide services all over the county.”
Community projects undertaken by the BSA involve a massive variety of tasks that can include anywhere from one scout to multiple troops. The projects often involve environmental protection and/or outdoor maintenance but range between building educational aids for schools or museums, to assisting the elderly, the disabled or the infirm.
In order to raise awareness about the opportunities the program provides for scouts between the ages of 7-18, as well as benefits to the community, scout troops in Chenango will be creating window displays which can then be seen in business, library, bank of store front windows.
“We’ve had some open houses which were very well attended,” said Blood. “The object from these window displays is to get scouting back in the public eye.”
For more information about the window displays, Scout Week, or the Boy Scouts of America in general, contact Blood at Tansey’s Auto (334-2669) or by e-mail (tanseysauto@frontiernet.net).