The Boy Scouts of America
Delivering the Promise
THE ALLIANCE FOR YOUTHTM
(IRVING, Texas) August 15, 1999 - The Boy Scouts of America has initiated a renewal
of their commitment to youth and to America's Promise, the Alliance for Youth. In May
of this year, the Boy Scouts of America reported 52,908,746 service hours contributed
by Scouts during 1998. This report, coupled with the Boy Scouts of America's 1997
efforts puts them far beyond the half way mark of their four-year commitment of 200
million service hours.
For the America's Promise two-year Report to the Nation, the Boy Scouts of America
pledged to enhance their efforts for America's Promise through:
- Presentations at all BSA national and local meetings with volunteers and youth
- Continued emphasis on the BSA's National Strategic Plan through the year 2002
- Heightened Order of the Arrow (Scouting's Brotherhood of Cheerful Service with
more than 176,000 youth members) promotion and direct leadership to 4.5 million
Scouts through 339 lodges nationwide
- Continuation and promotion of youth service projects including an initiative with
the National Park Service
The Boy Scouts of America plans to strengthen their relationship with the National Park
Service through which their youth members will provide an additional one million service
hours at U.S. national parks. The National Park Service and the Boy Scouts of America
teamed up in 1998 to form an America's Promise initiative in which the National Park
Service assigned a volunteer coordinator at each site to work with Scouting leaders to
coordinate projects that will preserve America's resources for generations. The National
Park Service offers a commemorative patch to BSA youth members who complete 12 hours of
service at any given National Park site.
"I am proud to join General Powell (the leader of America's Promise) and the National
Park Service to provide Scouts an opportunity to give back through community service,"
said Boy Scouts of America volunteer president Ed Whitacre, Jr.
America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth is dedicated to mobilizing the nation's
finest groups and organizations, representing every sector of American life, to build and
strengthen the character and competence of our youth.
At the heart of America's Promise is a set of five basic promises made to every child in
America. To point them in the right direction, to provide them the tools for healthy development,
and help them to become adults dedicated to serving their communities, these five promises must
be fulfilled for all of America's youth:
- An ongoing relationship with a caring adult - mentor, tutor, or coach
- A safe place to be with structured activities during non-school hours
- A healthy start
- A marketable skill through effective education
- An opportunity to give back through community service
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