William T. Hornaday Unit Award

If you were at last weeks meeting, you know that I have put together a Hornaday Project to clean, recycle and record 100 miles of roadside, in Palm Beach County.

Since last weeks meeting, I have been told that this is the first time that a youth leader has ever committed to such a large leadership project for community recycling. And my goal is much bigger then this one project. I want to create something that other kids will want to copy, until all of our roadways have been cleaned and recycled and then I want to create a second project that would outline a maintenance program that will keep all of our roadways clean and recycled.

To do this the right way, I only need 40 people (kids and adults), to commit to 10 roadside clean ups each (2.5 hours each clean up), which would be 100 plus miles of roadside cleanup, recycling and recording.

During my announcement, I was asked if the troop could also qualify for a Hornaday award and I am happy to say “YES” and its called a “Hornaday Unit Certificate”. Not many troops have ever been recognized for this honor, but I think we can do it.

A “Hornaday Unit Certificate” can be awarded to a pack, troop, team, or crew of five or more Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, or Venturers for a unique, substantial conservation project. The rules state that at least 60 percent of the registered unit members must participate in the project. Then these units may be nominated, or they may apply to their BSA local council for recognition.

This means that we can all benefit as a unit from my Hornaday Project.

To help make this project easier, I am going to set up 32 different morning roadside clean up /recycling dates (over the next 16 weeks) and each volunteer will only need to participate in 10 of them to qualify us for the unit award.

To sign up for this project, please send me an email that you want to be included or sign my sign up sheet at Tuesdays meeting and I will add your name to my email list (for the project) and I will also add you name to the press release for the news.

Thanks,

Joshua Katz, Life Scout
BSA Troop 215