WHEREAS, The Boy Scouts of America was founded on February 8th, 1910 by William D. Boyce, after being inspired to create the organization when he became lost in London and received help from a British Boy Scout; and
WHEREAS, The Boy Scouts of America works to
promote community values in Scouts from a young age, by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law; and
WHEREAS, the Scout Law encourages Scouts to be
trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent - values that can be adopted by all youth - boys and girls; and
WHEREAS, In October of 2017 the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would welcome girls in grades 1 to 5 into Cub Scouts in 2018 and create a program to serve older girls in 2019; and
WHEREAS, The Boy Scouts of America later announced that it would change the name of its longstanding program for boys ages 11 to 17 - Boy Scouts - to Scouts BSA, and welcome girls ages 11 to 17 to form separate Scouts BSA troops for girls effective February 1, 2019, allowing them to earn all merit badges and advancements up to and including the coveted Eagle Scout rank; and
WHEREAS, Scouting is now more inclusive than ever with character building, leadership development, outdoor skills training, service-minded initiatives and more; serving nearly 4,000 boys and girls in the City of Philadelphia, and thousands of families throughout region; and
WHEREAS, The Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America’s time-tested, life-changing Scouting programs are made possible through the selflessness of its network of more than 4,000 volunteers, hundreds of chartered partner organizations and generous contributions from its donors; and
WHEREAS, This dedication to the youth of Philadelphia is paramount to the continued development of the City’s younger generations, who will become the future leaders.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor, recognize, and celebrate the 109th Birthday of the Boy Scouts of America, and celebrate the inclusion of girls and young women into the Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA programs respectively, and the positive impact it will have in our community.
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