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Post By: John Busch Money Trouble For Metro East Scouts -
Post By: John Busch
MONEY TROUBLE FOR METRO EAST SCOUTS
Video: http://tinyurl.com/2269zb
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Monday, 22 Jan 2007, 11:03 PM CST
By Teresa Woodard, FOX Channel 2, St. Louis, MO.
Edwardsville, IL --
Money problems for some Metro East Boy Scouts led them to consider selling off one of two camps the council has run for decades. That sparked controversy, so instead the council is asking the community for help.
The goal is $3 million or more, and the Trails West council says it is not just a want, but a need, to ensure local boys can continue to be scouts and the scouts can continue to camp.
"Some of my best scouting experiences come from camp," said Stephen Champion, a scout from the Trails West council who attended a town hall meeting Monday night in Edwardsville.
"It's just amazing to go out and camp and spend time with friends," said fellow scout Kevin Reuters.
For 80 years, boy scouts have camped in Godfrey, Illinois at Camp Warren Levis. For 30 years they've paddled near Potosi, Missouri at Camp Sunnen. The Trails West Council from Wood River operates both.
"We have enough money to run the programs," said Council President Max Eakin, but he stressed the council did not have enough money to fix up both camps the way he believes they should be.
"Could we whittle it down to one camp? We could but we don't want to," Eakin explained.
The council did consider consolidating the camps, or selling off one. Then some camp alumni began an outcry. One even began an online "Save Our Camps" campaign.
"The camps are not for sale," Eakin said.
But, in a way, the council's mission is.
"And that mission is simply to teach values and ethics so that they can make good decisions," explained Council Commissioner Bob Evans.
The council is planning to embark on a major capital campaign in the coming months, asking the community for financial support to keep programs going and the camps running. In return the community gets well-prepared young men.
"Scouting really isn't about money," explains scout Zach Reed. "It's the values it teaches and the leadership skills. You don't go ask for a donation, you ask for a bettering of the community more than money."
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