Boy Scouts Of America

In 2024 we had over 1,500 youth and adults participate in various programs held at camp last summer. Through these programs youth of all ages were riding ziplines, climbing the tower, hiking around camp, learning to cook, racing through the ninja warrior course, fishing, shooting and more. Although we still have the impact of covid affecting our camp numbers for the next few years, camp wakonda has been added to broaden our reach to more youth both in & outside of scouting. This camp is similar to our traditional scout camps, but do not include advancement othat are required of our scouts, but instead focuses on the other aspects of camp, working together and having fun, but within a much different structure. Our camp staff is known for being one of the best around, and they are excited to share our camp and all that it has to offer with new audiences. Scouts can bring their friends, cousins, neighbors who may not be involved in scouting currently, but can now have the same experiences at camp.

The wakonda kids program, a partnership with local child care providers saw over 500 youth ages 5 and up visit the property as a field trip opportunity provided to their summer program. This allowed many non- scouting youth to reap the benefits of summer camp and outdoor programming with activities not often accessible in our community including climbing, archery, and ecology activities. In 2024 we have plans to expand this to include partnerships with big brothers big sisters and boys and girls clubs throughout the area. The fall is our busiest season of the year, with our membership push happening at back to school nights as the kids head back to schools in august. The scouting calendar is full with combined campouts, youth leadership trainings, and service projects all taking place. We also held a merit badge university for the first time with nearly 300 youth at kirkwood college & it was a huge success for the scouts, as well as providing necessary funds for hac to support our programs in the future. Hac had another successful scouting for food campaign, which is our major service project for the year, and last spring collected 53,090 pounds of food, which provided over 47,496 meals to those in experiencing food insecurity in the corridor. 74 young men and women earned their eagle scout award in 2024, which is the highest rank in scouting.