The Boy Scouts of America Rainbow Council serves 12,000 youth in Will County, Illinois through various Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and co-ed Venture Scout crews. These scouting groups provide numerous community service projects like collecting food and cleaning parks and churches. Some examples given are Pack 213 doing annual cleanup and beautification projects at Trinity United Methodist Church, and Crew 457 assisting with Memorial Day services at local cemeteries. The document outlines how the Boy Scouts promote character development, citizenship, and service.

1. Rainbow Boy Scouts serve community
The Herald News - Joliet (IL)
October 20, 2002
The Boy Scouts of America Rainbow Council, a United
Way member agency, serves 12,000 youth in its Council
territory.
Boy Scouts is a family and community-based movement which provides parents the
opportunity to participate with their children in fun activities that teach youth the aims of
Scouting: physical fitness, character development, community service and citizenship.
Throughout Will County, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and co-ed Venture Scouts provide
service to the community and the charter organizations that sponsor the individual units.
Scouts are at work in our community every week -- collecting food, recycling, visiting
nursing homes and hospitals, and in hundreds of other ways living out the Scout Oath
and Law.
On Joliet's east side, Pack 213 is chartered by Trinity United Methodist Church. Service
projects for the church are an integral part of the Cub Scout Program, according to
Cubmaster Keith Malone.
"The Boys of Pack 213 do a cleanup project every spring. It involves picking up all the
trash, mowing the lawn, trimming the trees and bushes, and pulling weeds. This is done

2. on all the church grounds and in the parking lot. After the cleanup is complete, we also
do a beautification project where the boys pick a new location at the church to add
flowers and mulch and make it look great.
"We hope eventually to beautify the entire grounds so that the church will look great
from every direction. The boys work hard and do the work themselves. During the
course of the year, they also mop and do an extensive project in the basement at least
twice a year."
Cub Scout Pack 25, chartered by Theodore Lutheran Church in Crest Hill, does a mitten
and hat drive in November, a toy drive in mid December, and a food drive in May. They
help their Charter Organization by cleaning the church property and Lidice and Crest
Hill Parks twice a year.
Boy Scout Troop 175, chartered by the Moose Lodge in Joliet, and Cub Scout Pack
259, chartered by Holy Family Catholic Church in Shorewood, help the Joliet Lion's Club
with pancake breakfasts and Candy Day. One also can see the Boy Scouts in their
uniforms cleaning a mile of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In the past, they have built
bridges in Channahon Park and Pilcher Park and have held a bike rodeo in Joliet so
that police officers could register bikes.
Ryan Wilkinson, a Boy Scout from Troop 5, chartered by the Stone City VFW Post,
recently completed his Eagle Scout project by organizing his troop in the construction of
a gazebo at the Shorewood Library.
Every year during the Memorial Day Weekend, Venture Crew 457, chartered by the
First United Methodist Church in Wilmington, helps with the Memorial Day Service (flag
raising) in Wilmington and then continues on to the National Cemetery to help with its
Memorial Day Service.
At the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, the Crew has done parking duty for the past
three years. They also do programs during the dedication service.

3. Crew adviser Dennis Reavis said, "This is done as a way to honor those who served
their country. Crew 457 also helps with keeping the First United Methodist Church
property clean. Before one of our meetings, we take time to walk the church grounds
and pick up any litter which has collected."
Crew 457 also has a 1.5-mile section of Illinois 53 that they clean as part of IDOT
Highway Clean Up Program.
In its 92-year history, the Boy Scouts of America has served more than 100 million
members and their families as a consistent platform for the value of community service
upon which America was built.
For information on the Boy Scouts of America Rainbow Council, call (815) 942-4450.
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