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Boy Scouts gets $700 from Rotary; seeks more volunteers
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Posted on Feb 21 2012
The Rotary Club of Saipan yesterday made a donation to the CNMI Boy Scouts of America during their general membership meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan yesterday.
Acting Rotary president Pete Shilling, along with Rotarians Dave Sablan and Karl Reyes, presented $700 to CNMI Boy Scouts of America district chair Jesus C. Muna and district commissioner and Rotarian Wayne Gillespie.
“I look forward to future donations and I want to thank all of you,” said Muña, drawing chuckles from the Rotarians.
The amount is expected to replenish the depleted funds of the CNMI Boy Scouts of America, which currently has about 360 young scouts from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota under its wing, according to Muña.
“Those numbers are still growing and a lot of young boys want to join the program but we just can’t recruit enough adult leaders who can commit to help these young boys,” he added.
Among the recent activities of the CNMI Boy Scouts of America for its young trainees were the summer camp at the Kan Pacific grounds in June and the Boy Scouting Week celebration early this month.
Muña said that some 45 boy scouts and volunteers also enjoyed a “very adventurous” visit to two prepositioned ships on island, the USNS Dahl and USNS Charleston, for free.
“The kids were really excited to have the opportunity to board the ships and they had a great time,” said Muña, adding that they plan to schedule another trip during spring break.
Muña said that since the CNMI Boy Scouts is a non-profit organization, it’s difficult to get people to commit to the program.
“If we could recruit adult leaders, it would be good for the program,” he said.
Gillespie echoed Muña’s sentiments, saying that they have a “desperate need” for troop and district volunteers.
Gillespie said they teach boy scouts to earn whatever they receive so they will come up with a project for the Rotary to make the boy scouts earn the donation “in some way.”
Sablan, for his part, commended Muña and Gillespie for doing a good job in establishing the scouting program in the Commonwealth.
