Boy Scout Troops Still Do Good, Though The National Organization Is Forever Stained

It would be easy to drive past the small Baptist church in the needy neighborhood on the city’s east side without noticing its rotting wood playground set. In fact, most people bypass this neighborhood completely, steering away from its pock-marked narrow streets and boarded-up houses.

But one teenager volunteering in a mission outreach to children at the church last summer did notice — and decided to do something about it.

John Haden Smith, then 17, knew the children in the neighborhood wanted and deserved a sturdy and safe playground set. He had a locker full of tools, mission-hewed building skills, and best of all, a group of friends, youth and adults, dedicated to serving the community.

As a member of Selma, Alabama’s Boy Scout Troop 46, founded in 1955, John Haden knew he could count on his troop — from the youngest Scout, 13-year-old James Caleb Duncan, to the 77-year-old lawyer and Head Scoutmaster Fred McCormick — to live up to the Boy Scout oath, “to help other people at all times.”

He knew his troop would step up and serve, just as they had over the years when they cleaned up the city ballpark, built outdoor seating at a museum, volunteered at the animal shelter, repaired a basketball court, cleared hiking trails at a state park, refinished floors at the YMCA, indexed books at the library, cleaned up church lots, and planted gardens. 

And he believed that planning and completing this project would help him earn the coveted Eagle Scout award, the highest rank of Scouting, something he promised his beloved grandfather Harry “Teddy” Holloway, who died in 2018, he would do.

“He never became an Eagle Scout and always regretted it,” John Haden said.

Loss in Membership

In its heyday in the 1970s, there were more than 6.5 million Scouts in Boy Scouts of America (BSA), a robust 112-year-old national organization focused on building boys into strong, capable, and caring young men. But scandals with Scout leaders and self-sabotaging decisions by the national council hit hard, bankrupting the organization and causing a precipitous loss of members.

In 2021 the BSA reached an $850 million settlement with more than 60,000 men who sued the iconic institution over alleged sexual abuse by Scoutmasters over several decades. One news agency called it “A wholesome U.S. institution poisoned by predators.” Today Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts report fewer than 1 million members nationwide.

Hardworking Volunteers Teach Important Values

But at the core of Boy Scouts are home-grown troops such as No. 46, like hundreds across the country, that still project the wholesome, fresh-faced exuberance of Scouting, with hardworking Scoutmasters who are leaders in their communities, volunteering their time to teach good citizenship, self-reliance, leadership, and community service to Scouts who are unfailingly polite, hardworking, athletic, and active in their churches and schools. It’s a story Troop 46 says doesn’t get told enough.

“The Boy Scouts made me the person I am today,” said Scoutmaster Dr. Richard Johnson, head of surgery at the