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Special message from
Scout Executive Matt Devore
Dear Scouting friends and volunteers:
If you haven’t already heard, the BSA National Executive Board met this morning and tabled a vote regarding the BSA national membership standards. This means volunteer National Board members would like to further consider a motion revising national policy regarding sexual orientation. They plan to spend the next four months to further study and discuss the issue. The discussion and study could then lead to a vote at the National Annual Meeting scheduled for the third week in May.
So what does this mean for us locally in our council? Kids need us to stay focused on the mission of Scouting first and foremost. My primary responsibility at this time is to keep our organization focused on our mission of delivering Scouting to children. We will continue preparing for summer camp, the jamboree and for many other important activities.
I am sure that we will need to consider new strategies as we go forward. With more than 500 emails and phone calls (just in the last week to me personally) I have heard firsthand just how divided people in our community feel about this emotional issue.
Today, I respectfully ask that you stay the course while this continues to be discussed. Do your best to remind people that kids need us now more than ever. Please encourage people to tone down the rhetoric a bit and quit taking sides.
A mentor once told me: “We aren’t advocates for the right. We aren’t advocates for the left. We are simply advocates for kids”. The youth don’t care about the politics. This is virtually a “non-issue” to them. They care about camping, hiking, and other great elements of Scouting.
Matt Devore
Scout Executive
Cascade Pacific Council, BSA
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