Rainbow Council, Boy Scouts of America

Mission of the Boy Scouts of America

It is the mission of the Boy Scouts of America to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

The Scout Oath

On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The Scout Law

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Designed Future Statement

In Scouting's second century, we are building the leaders of tomorrow. Scouting's dynamic and engaging journey beckons to America's young people. Our exciting programs and outdoor adventures inspire lives of leadership, character, and service. Relevant and adaptive, we are a trusted advocate for youth. Our adult volunteers and employees are widely admired for their leadership excellence. The Boy Scouts of America is strong and financially secure. True to our mission, Scouting reflects our nation in its ethnic diversity, and shapes our nation by developing responsible citizens.

I. IMPACT & PARTICIPATION: Scouting's programs reach and make a life-changing difference with kids of all backgrounds and communities.

II. RESOURCES & FINANCES: The Boy Scouts of America is financially sound at all levels of the organization through a balanced funding model. Funding is not a barrier to providing programs that fulfill our mission.

III. BUILDING OUR BRAND: The Boy Scouts of America is known and valued by the people of our nation. Our brand is so recognized and respected that it empowers our members and enables our success.

IV. DYNAMIC & RELEVANT PROGRAM: Scouting's programs are exciting, culturally relevant, and appealing to today's youth; attracting them at an extraordinary rate and retaining them longer.

V. INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY: Scouting uses innovation and technology to support the strategic pillars and to increase the impact and potency of the Scouting movement. All members of Scouting are connected with the right information and technology tools anywhere, anytime, to any device.

VI. YOUTH ADVOCACY & STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS: The Boy Scouts of America is recognized as an advocate for youth and youth issues. We are known by our members and America's families and communities as a resource for leadership, encouragement, and programs that benefit our country's youth. The strategic relationships of the BSA extend far beyond those with our traditional chartered organizations and keep Scouting relevant and adaptive.

LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE & CULTURE: Scouting's youth, volunteer leaders, and employees exemplify leadership excellence across all aspects of the movement.

The Boy Scouts of America has a 108 year history of collaborating with local community organizations to deliver the Scouting program. Over 100 Scouting units (Pack, Troops, Crews and Posts) are owned and operated by local faith based, civic and educational organizations. These units are staffed by our Council, Rainbow Council in Grundy, Kankakee and Will Counties in Illinois. We have over 1500 trained volunteer leaders with a full staff behind them. Our council provides training, mentoring and administrative support as well as operating camp properties and offering year-round and summer resident camping experiences that serve the laboratories for youth members to practice the lessons of leadership. Additionally our volunteers provide countless opportunities for youth to learn and implement new skills ranging from basic life skills to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) that may well be the basis for a lifelong passion.

With the full support of our Executive board, the Rainbow Council has been able to move their headquarters to Down town Lockport, Illinois. The relocation was to better serve the youth and our volunteers in the middle of our most dense population. We have not only brought our center of operations to the heart of our service area, we acquired the location without adding debt to our portfolio through savvy investments, property transactions and by following the sound advise of our Executive Board.

In 2017 The Rainbow Council, Boy Scouts of America operated with a balanced budget and became a recipient of the National Major Gifts award.

In 2018 our Honor Society for Scouting, the Order of the Arrow, was the recipient of a service award.

Our program successfully welcomed family Scouting in 2018 and will continue to develop the coeducational program into 2019.
We have become less exclusive as an organization, reaching beyond gender, ethnicity and income in our aims to be more family friendly and inclusive.