Scouting Changes Lives

It has been a true pleasure to spend the past several weeks getting to know Connecticut and the Scouters of Connecticut Yankee Council! One thing is very apparent from my travels. The Scouting program is alive and well in Southwest Connecticut. Our Troops, Packs, Crews and Posts are active and alive serving the youth of our communities and changing lives in the process. 

Make no mistake, the Scouting program does changes lives. What we do in the Boy Scouts of America is critical to the future of our communities and nation. Perhaps that sounds grandeous or meolodramatic to some, but not to me. I have witnessed that our communities are led and shaped by those who were involved in our programs in their youth. We teach young people to become active and involved, to interact with the community and make it a better place to live. We not only change the lives of the youth we serve, but we also change the face of our communities.

Because we play such a vital role we can never become complacent or believe that good enough is good enough. We face real challenges as a community of Scouters. If we are going to continue to make Southwest Connecticut a good place to live and for children to grow, we must face those challenges head on.

The Connecticut Yankee Council strives to provide facilities and services that match the talents and dedication of our volunteers. In recent years we have made significant strides toward that goal, but we aren't there yet. Many of you may have noticed the upgrades at Camp Sequassen and of course the new facilities to accommodate Cub Scout Resident Camp at Deer Lake. At the same time the level of staffing and outreach into our hardest-to-serve communities has had to pull back. We lack the financial wherewithal to deliver those services in the manner we desire. It is now time to communicate to our stake holders and bring them with us as we seek to develop the resources to properly serve our volunteers. 

You can play a key role in that process. Our staff stands ready to go wherever we need to be to communicate the story of Scouting. We seek to engage our community and tell them the difference that Scouting makes not just for each individual youth, but for their community as a whole. When you see an appropriate forum for this discussion we would welcome an invitation to participate. 

On behalf of the Connecticut Yankee Council, I want to say Thank You. Thank you for your dedication, your passion, your support and your time. Because of it thousands of lives are being changed and set in the right direction. None of it would be possible without you. It is an honor to serve you as Scout Executive.

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- Dustin Shaver, Scout Executive