Boy Scouts of America, Westark Area Council
1401 Old Greenwood Road
Fort Smith, AR 72913
782-7244
8:00 – 5:00 Monday – Friday
www.westarkbsa.org
westark@bsamail.org

“Providing opportunities for character building, citizenship, training and physical fitness.”

The WestArk Area Council was established in 1920, ten years after the establishment of the Boys Scouts of America. Today, over 2,000 young people in the six-county United Way area participate in scouting programs.

The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to “serve others by helping to instill values in young people, and in other ways prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime in achieving their full potential.”

Boy Scouts complete this mission by working to develop citizens to:

• Become physically, mentally and emotionally fit.
• Have a high degree of initiative, courage and resourcefulness.
• Have personal and stable values firmly based in religious concepts.
• Have the desire and the skills to help others.
• Understand the principles of the American social, economic and governmental systems.
• Be knowledgeable about, and take pride in their American heritage and understand America’s role in the world.
• Have a keen respect for the basic rights of all people.

The Westark Area Council of the Boys Scouts of America is especially proud of:

• The young men who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
• The “Scouting for Food Drive” that has collected food for the needy over the past years.
• The Camp Orr and Rogers Scout Reservation camping areas.

In 2003, the Westark Area Council of the Boys Scouts of America began a Youth Diversion Program. This program provides an alternative to the formal court proceedings for the first-time offender and offers a second chance to those young adults who are willing to accept responsibility and more forward. Through structured activities, this program aims to reduce the recidivism rate among these youth.