CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The bankruptcy filing from the Boy Scouts of America, the national organization, did not come as a surprise to the leader of the Buckskin Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
“We’ve heard talk about this for quite a while, so I think we understood that this was a real possibility,” said Jeff Purdy, Scout Executive.
Last year, his Buckskin Council of the Boy Scouts of America served 6,000 Scouts in 40 counties in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia.
“The Buckskin Council has not filed for bankruptcy. Our Council is legally separate, distinct and financially independent from the national organization,” Purdy said.
For the national organization, the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy came early Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware amid the financial strain of lawsuits from sexual abuse survivors.
Hundreds of lawsuits were pending from past Scouts who claimed abuse at the hands of Scout leaders.
In some cases, the allegations date back decades.
The Boy Scouts of America issued an “Open Letter to Abuse Victims” that was scheduled to run in Wednesday’s USA Today.
“The Boy Scouts of America believes our organization has a social and moral responsibility to equitably compensate all victims who were abused during their time in Scouting,” BSA officials said.
“We also have a duty to carry out our mission for years to come.”
During reorganization, BSA officials said they planned to create a Victims Compensation Trust while continuing Scout programs and service projects and maintaining commitments to members, volunteers and others as permitted by bankruptcy laws.
The filing was not expected to directly affect local council assets, like those for the Buckskin Council.
“I’m proud of the organization. I think it was, obviously, a very difficult situation,” Purdy said.
“I think that the national organization is doing the right thing by addressing the concerns and the challenges of supporting victims while simultaneously trying to ensure the future of Scouting which I think is very important to the youth of our country.”
Purdy said significant steps had already been taken to implement youth protection policies.
As the BSA reorganizes, land holdings were among some of the organization’s largest assets.
The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America manages four facilities in the U.S. and Canada, including the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in Fayette County, home to the National Scout Jamboree,
Also at the site’s 14,000 acres are the James C. Justice National Scout Camp, the Paul R. Christen National High Adventure Base and the John D. Tickle National Training and Leadership Center.
The next National Scout Jamboree at the Summit is scheduled for July 21-30, 2021.
A MetroNews call to the Summit was redirected to a BSA Restructuring Hotline at 1-866-907-2721.
The hotline offered information for abuse victims and their representatives, vendors, employees of the national organization, BSA retirees, Scout parents and volunteers and donors in addition to the media.
“We will not be offering interviews” was the later response to a request to speak with someone with either Boy Scouts of America or the Summit specifically.
Purdy said, from his view, the future of the Summit was secure.
“I think that place is vibrant, exciting and I’m down there several times a year. Our Scouts, our local Scouts, get to use that facility. It is a National Council facility,” he said.
“It’s a great, exciting thing to have. I think that relationship will continue and I think the Summit will be here for a long time.”
2020-02-18 16:44:00Z
http://wvmetronews.com/2020/02/18/assurances-of-continued-scouting-follow-national-boy-scouts-of-america-bankruptcy-filing/
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