Letters to the Editor

SCOUTS' HONOR

Not a day goes by that I don’t use the tenets of honor, loyalty and trustworthiness that I learned in Scouting as both a boy and later as a young adult leader. Recently, I was astounded to hear that the United Way of Acadiana had cut off funding for the local Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America (“Separate Ways ,” April 8). Furthermore, I was perplexed to hear the reasoning as relayed in The Independent article citing the United Way’s new criteria as a focus on education, earnings and essentials. What? These are the core values that every young person learns in Scouting and are reinforced in the deeds and merits that are key to the organization’s focus on personal achievement and duty to God and to country. I’ve seen firsthand that Scouting provides course-altering life skills that transform boys into men of character and leadership. If you want to encourage the next generation to be self-sufficient, empowered adults of our community, then give them Scouting or, just as importantly, give generously to Scouting. I know I will.