OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Boy Scouts of America took part of their merit badge certification online, but they were still able to have summer camp with a reduced number of scouts.
As you drive up to Camp Cedars, there is no doubt you are entering scout territory. Even with a reduced number of scouts, summer camp went on as planned.
"We had a very dedicated group of volunteers and staff that worked hard to review all of the programs to see what could and couldn't happen," said Spencer Finley, CFO of the Boy Scouts of America Mid-America Council. "The last two months, as with everybody's daily life, things were changing daily and rapidly, so we had to just keep adjusting to meet the health directives."
Some attend for just a weekend and others come out for an entire week. They get to pick and choose where to set up camp from 17 different sites.
The scouts have to make their own meals, keep a fire and survive in the outdoors.
Some found it difficult to decide which activity they enjoyed most.
"Just about all of it," said Jackson Krueger. "I enjoy doing summer camp each year; this is going to be my 5th year. I was really excited that they were doing instead of five classes in one day, they are doing it where we can earn two merit badges in one day."
Many classes and programs were canceled, but others did go on as usual.
"It's been really difficult, but a lot of fun," said camping director Christine Sammons. "It has definitely been a challenge to plan camp and operate camp, but we made a lot of safety changes. Wearing masks and social distancing and eliminating a lot of programs that we can't do in a safe manner."
Even though keeping camp going this summer was a financial strain, they thought it was important to give these scouts a summer to enjoy.
"Our budget was greatly impacted. Our year-round budget as well as our camp budget with 60% attendance, we are not able to cover all the hard costs that we have to run camp," said Finley.
Along with outdoor survival techniques, the kids are taught independence, life skills and being able to save others as they take aim for their future.
You can help the Boy Scouts of America cover their camp costs at their website.
