Help Your Council Earn the Good Turn for America Award

The Good Turn for America Council Award recognizes local councils with a shared vision and a proven commitment to help youth learn qualities of good citizenship through community service projects carried out in collaboration with other community organizations. In 2004, 77 councils earned the Good Turn for America Council Award.

The 2005 award application, which is due to your regional office by February 28, 2006, lists the following four requirements:

  1. Summarize one or more councilwide events or activities related to Scouting for Food, Scouting for Shelter, and/or Scouting for Healthy Living, including a statement of who benefited.
  2. All districts participated in the council event/activity or conducted their own district event/activity.
  3. At least 60 percent of the units in the council participated in a council, district, or unit Good Turn for America event/activity.
  4. Good Turn for America events/activities were conducted in collaboration with the following community organizations. (Name the organizations.)

You and your district play an important role in completing the second and third requirements. And, in light of the many units that diligently responded to the natural disasters in the Gulf Coast states and continue to conduct Scouting for Food projects this year, remember that every service project is a Good Turn for America project and will help your council qualify for this recognition. Remind your units to enter their service project information at www.goodturnforamerica.org.

Finally, remember to take advantage of the Good Turn for America unit recognition items available through the Supply Group. These items, which may be found in the "Awards and Gifts" section (page 14) of the 2006 Boy Scouts of America Official Retail Catalog, include a patch and segment, unit streamer, certificate, and plaque.


The Merits of Marketing (marketing.scouting.org) is a resource for local councils, developed by the Marketing & Communications Division of the National Council, Boy Scouts of America.