Building Capacity for Diversity

Throughout the course of Scouts for Equality's campaigns, we made a promise that we weren’t the type of group to demand changes and then walk away. We assured the Scouting family that we would stick around to support inclusive Scouting once it became a program deserving of our support. Although there’s still work to be done, things are starting to happen. Really good things. And it’s time to make good on our promise.

Earlier this fall, our Training Director Eric Busse and Executive Director Justin Wilson made a special visit to a Boy Scout camp located a few miles from Boston in the Spirit of Adventure Council. This isn’t your average Scout camp. This is the New England Base Camp, the camp where the future of Scouting lives. We arranged a private tour of the camp with Scout Executive Chuck Eaton, and his eyes lit up as he told us about his grand vision for the camp. This camp is open year-round to the general public, and they make it clear they mean everyone.

The Spirit of Adventure Council knows that the future of Scouting needs to be inclusive if it is to have a future at all, and they’re taking the lead on pushing for positive culture change from within the BSA. Chuck understands that for far too long, the BSA’s culture and policies have implied that Scouting is only available for white, heterosexual, Christian, suburban boys. He has a message for the 50% of American youth who are girls, for the 50% who identify as people of color, for the nearly 1 in 5 families that are not Christian, for all LGBTQ+ youth, and for families living in urban environments: we want you to know that Scouting is for you, too.

This is what we’ve been waiting for! If Scouts for Equality had been tasked with creating a Scout camp perfectly aligned with our goals, this is what it would look like. The camp evens runs a comprehensive calendar of spotlight days to celebrate and learn about the diversity in spirituality, culture, ethnicity, ability, gender and identity. We need to show the BSA that efforts like this are worthy of support. We need to show them that inclusive Scouting will succeed.

I hope I can count on you to join us in offering your support! Thanks to the generosity of our SFE Board and anonymous donors, we are matching the first $6,000 raised by SFE supporters this year. This is a great opportunity to double your impact! With your help, I know we can reach our goal of $12,000 in support of inclusive Scouting in Boston.