Holidays Help Bring Out the Best of Us

I really enjoy hearing how our Scouts come up with thoughtful projects during the holidays to help people in the communities we serve. Service has been one of our legacy values for over a century, but the need continues to be strong in many communities for the support and good cheer Scouting can provide.

Even if it is as simple as personally delivering Christmas cards to a veteran’s home in Missouri, collecting holiday gifts for needy teenagers in Massachusetts, or an Eagle project doing a NASCAR-themed bedroom makeover for an 11-year-old at a home for abused children in New York, these acts of kindness help bring communities together under the leadership of our Scouts.

Scouts from Troop 580 in Poestenkill, NY, pose in the newly decorated NACSAR-theme bedroom they created for an 11-year-old resident of St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany. // Photo courtesy of The Record News

Scouting’s founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, once said:

“Yet one more item is needed to complete success, and that is the rendering of service to others in the community. Without this, the mere satisfaction of selfish desire does not reach the top notch.”

These words continue to resonate with our Scouts today, like those who are building wooden toys for a “Toys for Tots” program in Kansas or refurbishing used bicycles for a holiday bike drive in West Virginia.

Volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 103 in Beckley, WV help repair used bicycles for an annual bike donation drive. // Photo courtesy of The Register Herald

These acts of service are valuable life lessons that our Scouts will carry with them and draw upon as they grow, raise families, and continue to offer assistance to their communities the rest of their lives.

I am so proud of these fine young people and the example they set for their peers. Their unselfish acts are what we need in today’s society to help keep our communities strong and healthy, which is what Scouting teaches as we help our young people become Prepared. For Life.™

How are the holidays bringing out the best in your organization? I would be interested in how many times you’ve witnessed people put aside their differences to help out their neighbors in need during the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

Wayne