All Insignia Right Front Good Turn for America

Good Turn for America is a collaboration between the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, Goodwill, and thousands of other national, regional and local community organizations and groups that focuses the power of volunteerism on important community issues. The three main issues addressed are: hunger, lack of adequate shelter, and poor health.

Good Turn for America goals include the following:

• Inspire youth and adult leaders in and out of Scouting to higher levels of service and volunteerism.


• Provide additional program experiences to help youth members learn qualities of good citizenship and gain a sense of belonging to and being needed in their communities.


• Build service collaborations with community organizations across every community in the country.


• Affirm the BSA as the nation's leading collaborating organization in community service.


• Heighten our nation's awareness of BSA's service commitment to all communities and citizens.

The program started in 2003 and continued onward until 2010. A special emblem (shown below) was designed with segmented year patches to surround it for each successive year the unit participated in the program.

Good Turn for America central patch and segments

There were three major program areas:

Scouting for Food Activities in Collaboration With The Salvation Army or Other Local Organizations. As unbelievable as it may seem, hunger remains a significant problem in the United States. In fact, one in five children in this country faces hunger. Hungry children, even those who experience only mild malnutrition during the critical stages of their development, may suffer irreparable harm.

The BSA is concerned about hunger and helping community agencies provide food for the needy.

Scouting for Shelter Activities in Collaboration With Habitat for Humanity or Other Local Organizations. The Urban Institute estimates that 3.5 million people in the United States, 1.35 million of them children, will experience homelessness during the course of a year. The need for simple, decent housing continues to grow in American communities.

The BSA is concerned about shelter to the needy and improving the quality of life of those who must live in group homes or shelters.

Scouting for Healthy Living Activities in Collaboration With the American Red Cross or Other Local Organizations. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. It is a major risk factor for the number one cause of death: heart disease. Heart disease can be reduced by proper exercise and diet. Our children are being raised in an increasingly sedentary society, and obesity is a major health concern for youth. One out of five obese youth develops diabetes. Some researchers predict that today's children will be the first generation of Americans whose life expectancy will actually be shorter than that of their parents. The culprit, they say, is the health problems associated with obesity.

The BSA is an organization that has always been concerned about the physical fitness and good health of Americans.

As mentioned, the program ended in 2010 with thousands of hours recorded by Cub Scout Packs, Scout Troops, Explorer Posts and Ships, Varsity Teams and Venturing Crews.

Settummanque!

Back to The Tree
Insignia mainpage

© 2024 Settummanque!
Designed by Mike Walton

Created with the CoffeeCup HTML Editor
*Boy Scouts of America , BSA , the Universal Emblem, Arrow of Light , Cub Scouts , Eagle Scout , Scouting , Order of the Arrow and all other related marks and insignia, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Boy Scouts of America in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.*