Eagle Scout Contributions to America

Hello again!

We are very proud to be celebrating the 101^st anniversary of the first Eagle Award that was presented on Labor Day 1912.  Since then, more than two million young men have achieved that top honor in Scouting, with nearly 58,000 Scouts earning their Eagle just last year.

Chances are, you probably know an Eagle Scout. You may even be one. And when you think about how Eagle Scouts have contributed to this great nation, you probably don’t have to look much farther than your own community’s backyard. The impact of these remarkable young men reaches communities in practically every single county in every single state. Last year alone, Eagle Scout projects provided approximately $231 million in service to communities across the nation.

Boy Scout Troop 428 member Evan Joseph earned his Eagle Scout rank by helping build this patio at Olentangy Liberty High School.// Image courtesy of Olentangy Valley News

The examples of hard work are not difficult to find. Eagle Scouts are:

• Building homemade planters in Cody, Wyoming for a local hospital.
• Raising money for creating gift baskets for survivors of house fires in Larimer County, Colorado.
• Organizing food drives for elementary student Week-end Survival Kits in Lansing, Michigan.
• Constructing a kiosk for a nature preserve in Chillicothe, Ohio.
• Helping to build first picnic area for a city park in Blaine, Washington.
• Making over streetlights and benches around the City Hall in Redlands, California.
• Raising money for classroom equipment to help handicapped students in Olathe, Kansas learn to speak.
• Constructing a food storage container for a Little League ballpark in North Andover, Massachusetts.
• Upgrading a community cemetery in Lincoln, Illinois, restoring a bench and circle of crosses.
• Laying bricks for a new patio at a high school in Olentangy, Ohio.

Mike Jorgensen (pictured), an Okemos Eagle Scout candidate, decided that The Weekend Survival Kit Program could benefit from his efforts. He created a food drive that directly benefited the program and Lansing area elementary students in the Lansing-area. // Photo courtesy of Lansing State Journal

You’ve probably heard plenty of famous names tied to the Eagle honor. Astronaut Jim Lovell. “Little Rock Nine” civil rights advocate Ernie Green. Former President Gerald Ford. And many others.

Our Eagle Scouts have all moved on to very different paths in life, but with a common thread. They’ve all committed to serving our nation with their own special skills and talents, with the leadership skills and values taught through Scouting.

A study released last year by Baylor University confirms what we’ve been saying about our Eagle Scouts for more than a century. That research found that Eagle Scouts are more likely than men who were never in Scouting to:

• Regularly participate in outdoor and non-outdoor recreational activities in their leisure or free time.
• Be goal oriented and have higher levels of planning and preparation skills.
• Network with others and have closer relationships with family and friends.
• Volunteer for religious and non-religious organizations.
• Donate money to charitable groups and work with others to improve something in the neighborhood.
• Be in a leadership position at their place of employment and in their community.

These are skills and qualities that the young people of our nation need – now – to make sure that we have a future generation of leaders to keep our nation strong and focused on what’s best for its citizens. It’s a legacy that must not fade away.

How do you promote good citizenship and leadership skills among the young people you work with every day?  How does the bar set by Eagle Scouts serve to motivate young people today?  Share your thoughts here!

Thanks, Wayne