Evans Boy Scout Troop Collects Over 100 Trees This Year
“The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” ~Robert Baden-Powell-British Army officer, writer, founder, and first Chief Scout of the worldwide Scout Movement. Our local Boy Scout Troops are striving to do just that. One CSRA troop that has gone above and beyond this holiday season is Boy Scout Troop 643. This Troop in Evans is part of the Georgia-Carolina Council, Boy Scouts of America. At 8 am on Sunday, while many in the CSRA were eating breakfast and preparing to start their day, Boy Scout Troop 643 hit the road to collect live Christmas Trees as part of their annual Troop fundraiser.
Making A Difference
You see, each year the Troop, run by volunteer adults, provides a fundraiser Christmas tree pickup to the community by recycling live trees at the end of the season. This provides the community with a way to dispose of their trees in a way that benefits our community animals, the ecosystem, local charities, and the troops alike. CSRA families provide a donation for the service. Then their donation goes to help to fund summer camp and scouting unit dues. It’s a great way to finish up the season of giving with a flourish!
The troop spent their morning loading the donated trees onto trailers and taking them to the lake to provide for fish habitats. And this year, Troop 643 has also provided the trees to local farm organizations for goats. The goats enjoy the pine needles and in fact, the pine needles serve as a natural de-wormer for the goats, which is a nice health benefit to them as well.
“No Tree Left Behind”
Troop Committee Chair Cynthia Stein said “The community once again have showed their appreciation with their donations for pick up. This year was a record for with 113 trees and 10 scouts collecting using 3 trailers with parent drivers. This truly teaches these boys to give back to the community and the community gives back to them. The funds earned help defer their dues/summer camp fees. And we always say, “No Tree Left Behind” so even at 5 pm when we got the call for another tree pickup, we got it. This year our donations went to Barnyard Buddies in Grovetown, Mad Hatter Farm in Harlem for their goats, and to the Corps of Engineers at Keg Creek to support fish habitats.”
Schedule A Visit With Your Future Scout
Troop 643 has been very active in the community over the years. They have assisted businesses and other non-profit organizations by providing community service help and Eagle Projects. The Eagle project is the capstone requirement for a scout to earn the Eagle Scout Award. If you have a child that might be interested in scouting, they would love to have you join them. Youth can join a Scout troop who have earned the Arrow of Light rank as a Cub Scout and are at least 10 years old or have completed the fifth grade and are at least 10, or who are 11, but not yet 18 years old. Troop 643 welcomes prospective scouts to check out their Troop when they meet each Tuesday evening. You can schedule a visit by contacting the Troop Committee Chair, Cynthia Stein at [email protected].
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