In This Issue…
Charting BSA’s Course Through Scoutreach—An Historic Timeline......... 1
Chairman’s Corner .................. 2
Istrouma Area Council’s Scouting for
Character Program................... 2
Meet the National
Scoutreach Committee .............. 4
summer
2006
Charting BSA’s Course
Through Scoutreach—
An Historic Timeline
Many corporations across America proudly
display their newsworthy accomplishments in
the lobbies of their headquarter buildings. As
clients walk in, they can marvel at the many
plaques, trophies, portraits of their founders,
and other tangible keepsakes that leave a
lasting first impression.
We in Scoutreach also have a wonderful story to tell. Since the inception of
the Scoutreach Division in August 1998,
we’ve produced many tangible resources,
implemented programs of emphasis, created special recognitions for Scouting’s
unsung heroes, and conducted numerous workshops and conferences—all
with one common goal: to ensure that
culturally diverse youth in urban and
rural communities have the opportunity to join the Scouting program.
Recently, we made a special effort
to spotlight those newsworthy events
from the last eight years about which
we all feel proud. The result is a montage of accomplishments that we’re calling “Charting BSA’s Course Through
Scoutreach—An Historic Timeline.”
The tangible pieces includes a colorful brochure, CD-ROM/PowerPoint®
presentation, and a timeline wall hanging
that is proudly displayed at the national
office. A new finance book bearing the theme
name spotlights the nine winning councils of the
National BSA Foundation and Scoutreach grants program.
All of these resources were introduced and made available at the BSA’s
2006 National Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Scout executives are
welcome to order all timeline pieces by contacting the National Distribution Center at 1-800-323-0732 or by calling the Scoutreach Division at
972-580-2449.
Vol. 10, No. 3
Chairman’s Corner
By Alberto A. Muñoz II, Chairman
National Scoutreach Committee
By now, you have read our
cover story, “Charting BSA’s
Course Through Scoutreach.”
Let’s think about this phrase
for a minute. If great men
like Christopher Columbus,
the Wright brothers, and
John Glenn come to mind,
then you’re not alone. Each
of these pioneers in their own
special way charted their own
Alberto A. Muñoz II
courses, often risking their
own lives, and in the process, they changed the world as
we know it. They each had their own special instruments
without which their accomplishments could not have
been possible.
The question you’re probably asking now is: how is
Scoutreach charting the Boy Scouts of America’s course
well into this new century? I believe the answer lies in
Roy William’s prophetic words from a Scoutreach training conference in Naperville, IL five years ago. He said:
I firmly believe our movement will ultimately be judged in
the years to come by what we did for the neediest of children.
Early this year, we awarded nine councils each a
$15,000 grant to continue the fine work their staff and
Scouting volunteers are doing to serve the neediest of
children in their own communities. One council in particular stands out—the Istrouma Area Council in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.
When hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit, the council
made a concerted effort to provide the best Scouting
possible with their limited resources to the many young
people displaced by these devastating storms. Their program is called Scouting for Character. I encourage you to
take a few minutes to read below about the heroic steps
the council took to provide a quality program to the
neediest of children in Louisiana.
Every council in America has the potential to chart the
course of Scouting’s future through Scoutreach. It may
require risk, effort, time, talent, and some elbow grease.
But the outcome is what really matters:
Ensuring that culturally diverse youth have the opportunity to join Scouting
Are you on course?
¡Scouting …Vale la Pena!
Istrouma Area Council’s Scouting
for Character Program
The Istrouma Area Council has
long been committed to bringing
Scouting to the most at-risk inner
city youth in our council service area.
This program has grown tremendously over the last few years as our
dedicated staff advisers, senior district
executives Tyrone Black and Khris Charles K. Simmons Jr.,
Loyd, work extremely hard every day
Scout Executive
to bring more and more needy youth Istrouma Area Council,
into these life-altering Scoutreach Baton Rouge, Louisiana
programs. Our Scoutreach programs include Scouting
for Character and 10 components of Operation First
Class. At year end 2004, our 13 parishes in Louisiana
and one county is Mississippi in our council service
area served 5,925 youth in 131 units in our Scoutreach
programs. A committee/cabinet of volunteers helps the
staff plan and develop these programs.
Hurricane Katrina has indeed changed life as we
knew it in Louisiana. The obliteration of entire communities and neighborhoods is incomprehensible. So
many of our residents have lost so much, from treasured
family heirlooms and memories to the comfort and
security that only home can bring.
At the Istrouma Area Council, we are very mindful
of these great changes in our beloved state of Louisiana.
Since before Hurricane Katrina even came ashore, we
have completely shifted our focus here in our office
entirely toward hurricane relief efforts. Service to others
is Scouting’s greatest legacy. Our board, staff, and individual units and adult volunteers have worked tirelessly
over the past month to help ease the burden of those
who have lost everything by helping to provide them
with comfort, support, and the necessities of life by
organizing the collection and distribution of the most
needed relief supplies. Indeed, our fellow Boy Scouts
of America councils from across the country have also
assisted with donations arriving here by truck and mail
from collections in their home councils.
While no one in Louisiana knows what the future
holds, we do know that life will be different. According to published reports, an estimated 8,087 children
have been registered in schools in parishes within the
13-parish service area and one county in Mississippi
that the Istrouma Area Council serves. Statistically,
approximately 15 percent of children in school take part
in our various Scouting programs. If we extrapolate that
number to determine the increased number of children
we will be serving, a good-faith estimate is that we will
serve more than 1,200 new children in our programs.
Of further significance is that two of our districts,
Bogue Tuchenna and Chappepeela, have been largely
shut down due to the devastation there. Those two districts combined served 2,599 youth in 101 units before
Hurricane Katrina hit. One district constitutes one of
the poorest areas in our council outside of inner-city
Baton Rouge, and it was virtually destroyed. Many of
those children are living in shelters in Baton Rouge.
The newly displaced youth in our communities need
some sense of normalcy returned to their lives. After visiting the main shelter at our River Center and learning
more about the children newly in our community, we
know there are many needy, at-risk youth who will need
the direction and focus that Scouting for Character and
Operation First Class offer. Most of the children in our
shelters and placed in our schools are evacuees from the
poorest areas of New Orleans, Bogalusa, Mississippi,
and other such places that have been completely devastated. Most of these children already lived below the
poverty line, and now they have even less because they
don’t have a permanent roof over their heads. Before
these two catastrophic hurricanes hit, our request for
finding would have been to not only maintain the
programs for those we already serve, but to expand the
program into homeless shelters to bring these children
the gift of belonging and structure to the kind of life
no child should have to lead, one without a home.
We have been working in cooperation with the local
housing authority and the local public school district’s
homeless children’s programs to identify those needy
youth living in homeless shelters. Now we know those
numbers will increase dramatically with the children
in the shelters in more and larger housing authority
neighborhoods, FEMA-designated trailer communities,
or wherever they come to call home. Many, many more
children now fall into the poorest categories, without a
permanent home.
We know that Scouting works in building strong
leaders by instilling strong values in youth. Our Scoutreach programs have been proven over time and are
ready to be implemented. What makes this application
of the Scoutreach programs different is the unfortunate and unique situation we find ourselves in here in
Louisiana due to the magnitude of the disasters we have
been through, with two major hurricanes pounding and
obliterating parts of our state. We have a real chance to
bring a life-altering program to youth who have literally lost everything. Unlike other organizations that
may have to design programs to help these children,
the Istrouma Area Council’s Scoutreach programs are
easily duplicated. All we lack are the funds to hire more
program specialists from Southern University to serve
as leaders and run the units and provide the necessities of the program like uniforms, books, supplies, etc.
Some of our programs go on year-round, and some are
according to the school year. The goals and objectives of
this program are those clearly outlined in Scouting for
Character and Operation First Class and our measurement of results is in the advancement of the youth and
numbers served.
The Istrouma Area Council is committed to bringing
this important program to as many children as possible
who are now a part of our community. We strongly feel
that this could be a pivotal turning point in their young
lives, living through the tragedy that just befell them.
Our funding base has been extremely impacted due
to Hurricane Katrina, and we are doing everything we
can to stretch our dollars to do the most good. Funding from the Ward Scoutreach Grants Program would
provide critically needed dollars to allow us to maintain
and expand our Scoutreach programs for all our youth
in Baton Rouge, especially those who have lost so much
due to Katrina. We respectfully ask for our unique
situation here in Louisiana to be strongly considered
for one of your $15,000 grants. We thank you for the
opportunity to apply for this generous funding. We sincerely want all of these at-risk
and very needy youth
to have a chance at a
better life through
Scouting, where
we believe strong
values make strong
leaders and, above
all, character counts!
Meet the National Scoutreach Committee
Alberto A. Muñoz II, Chairman*
Law Offices of Alberto A. Muñoz
Susan Allen Au*
President and Chief Executive Officer,
U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
John H. Austin Jr.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement
Administration
Christopher H. Boswell
Dr. David L. Briscoe
John N. Brown
M. Anthony Burns*
Chairman Emeritus, Ryder System, Inc.
Cam Castañeda
Joseph Certaine
Director, Governor’s Office in Philadelphia
Stuart A. Clarke
Ronald O. Coleman
Hiep Huu Dau
Production Engineer, Foxconn, Inc.
Dr. William Finerty
Daryl Ingram
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Dr. Isidore J. Lamothe, Jr.*
President, I. J. Lamothe Jr., MD, and Associates
Ki D. Lee
President, T.B.P.C. Prints Advertising
Lewis Lyons
Carlos Martinez
Attorney at Law, Butt, Thornton & Baehr P.C.
Jin Matsumoto
Ronald K. Migita, Vice Chairman*
Chief Executive Officer, Citibank
Scott Oki
Chief Volunteer, Oki Foundation
James W. Palmer Jr., Esq.
Attorney at Law
Tico Pérez
Baker & Hosteler,
Counselors at Law
Paul Puebla
Lt. Gov. Winthrop P. Rockefeller
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jose Rodriguez, M.D.
Judge Carl E. Stewart
Louis W. Sullivan, M.D*
President, Morehouse School of Medicine
Andrew C. Tainter III
Chairman, Lone Scout Foundation
Maria R. Velasco
Public Affairs Specialist
Food & Drug Administration
Milton H. Ward*
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ward Resources Inc.
Roland Warren
National Fatherhood Initiatives
R. Ray Wood
Chairman and President
Rockford Products Corporation
Adviser
George Randall
Scoutreach Division Director
Associate Advisers
Frank X. Ramirez
Scoutreach Division Associate Director
Don Rogers
Scoutreach Division Associate Director
Helen and Orval Overholt
*BSA National Executive Board or Advisory Council member
Regional Scoutreach Contacts
Northeast Region:
Dave Borchard, 609-655-9600
Southern Region:
John Fitzpatrick, 770-514-5025
Central Region:
Joe Vollmer, 630-983-6730
Western Region:
Everett Sumner, 602-752-7000
National Scoutreach Staff
George Randall, director
Don Rogers, associate director
Frank X. Ramirez, associate director
Judy Maldonado, division secretary
Nene Moulder, secretary
Frank X. Ramirez, newsletter editor
972-580-2037
972-580-2127
972-580-2061
972-580-2449
972-580-2106
972-580-2184 (Fax)
11-092
Summer 2006 Printing