A Legacy that Endures Capital / Endowment Campaign

“NOBODY WALKS AWAY FROM A LEGACY THAT ENDURES”

Sam Swope High Resolution Portrait (TIFF, 597 KB)

Little did I know that when I volunteered as District Chair for Seneca District in 1968, I would still be in Scouting 36 years later. They told me, “It only takes about 1 hour a week!” My tenure in Scouting has been rewarding and pleasurable, and, I like to think, beneficial for the youth who are impacted with the values of the Scouting program… values that parents want for their children, and values that will help them “Be Prepared” for life.

Since 1910, when the first Boy Scout Troop One was chartered to Crescent Hill United Methodist Church in Louisville and, in Jeffersonville, Southern Indiana, at Wall Street United Methodist Church, Scouting has influenced the lives of over 1,000,000 youth in this area. Scouting has continually served neighborhoods and communities through “charter partners”… in churches, synagogues, schools, homes, businesses, etc. Currently we serve over 21,000 youth (boys - ages 6-18; coed - ages 14-20) and 7,500 volunteer leaders, over 50% of which are female.

Capital Campaigns don’t happen very often. Forty years have passed since the Capital Campaign for the Scout Service Center, located at 824 Phillips Lane, and 18 years since our Campaign to build Camp Crooked Creek.

Local Scouting continues to experience change that affects, both positively and negatively, our opportunities to serve our youth in the best manner possible. After a feasibility study, the Executive Board of the Lincoln Heritage Council decided to launch A Legacy That Endures Capital/Endowment Campaign to raise $7.5 million dollars over the next 12 months. The successful results will support over 7,500 dedicated local volunteers in nearly 900 Cub packs, Scout troops, Venture crews, and Explorer posts. Campaign projects include:

1. A new Volunteer Scout Center that will greatly enhance training and support.
2. Improvements to our 2 premier camps.
3. Strengthen our financial stability through endowment.

Your support is needed. Please spread the word to our “alumni” as they, too, have benefited from the Scouting program. Indeed, now is the time to step forward and support a campaign that will benefit our Scouts, volunteers, parents, and community. Our future is our youth! For more information, please call me or a steering committee member. I ask that “nobody walk away” from A Legacy That Endures.

Samuel G. Swope, Capital / Endowment Campaign Chair

Sam Swope Donates $1 Million to Name New Scout Center

Sam Swope, Chair of A Legacy that Endures Capital/Endowment campaign, kicked off the effort with a one million dollar gift. “I believe Scouting provides our youth with the support, values, and skills to help them become productive and contributing members of our community,” Swope said. “We have outgrown our current center, and the new facility will allow us to better support our adult volunteer leaders and the thousands of youth they serve.”

The Sam Swope Scout Center High Resolution Drawing (JPEG, 370 KB)

The new, $3.4 million, 20,000 square foot Sam Swope Scout Center will provide meeting rooms, training facilities, a Scout Shop for uniforms and supplies, and needed technology to provide the best service to adult volunteers and the youth they serve. The Sam Swope Scout Center will replace the existing headquarters located at 824 Phillips Lane . That center, built in 1967, was designed to serve 20,000 youth and adults in 19 Kentucky counties. Today, Lincoln Heritage Council/Boy Scouts of America serves 45,000 youth and adults in 25 counties in North Central Kentucky and Indiana .

The Swope family continues to be very active in Scouting. In 1993, the Eagle Scout Class was named “The Swope Family Eagle Class” in honor of the volunteer commitments of Sam Swope, Bill Swope (Sam’s brother), and Bill’s sons Bob, Carl, and Dick Swope.

Sam Swope has received the Silver Beaver Award, Scouting’s highest award presented locally, recognizing more than 30 years as a member of the executive board. In 2003, Sam Swope was honored with the Boy Scouts of America Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award to recognize his exceptional support to economically disadvantaged youth in the Lincoln Heritage Council.

Investing in Our Camps

In addition to building the Sam Swope Scout Center, the A Legacy that Endures campaign will finance needed improvements at the council’s two Scout Reservations. Over $400,000 will be invested in the Harry S. Frazier, Jr. Scout Reservation (one of the most accessible Scout camps in the country by the disabled and home of Camp Crooked Creek) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and one of the oldest Scout camps in the country, the Tunnel Mill Scout Reservation in Charlestown, Indiana as a result of the campaign.

The Lincoln Heritage Council's Scout Reservations welcome more than 150,000 visitors annually, including Scouts, Scouters, and the general public.

Strengthening Our Financial Stability

In addition to the construction of the Sam Swope Scout Center, A Legacy that Endures will also provide $3.5 million that will help endow the upkeep of the Sam Swope Scout Center, Camp Crooked Creek and Tunnel Mill Reservation camp facilities, plus other council programs, including “camperships,” camping and activity scholarships for disadvantaged youth.

How You Can Help

Please contact Marc Reynerson at the Scout Service Center, 502-361-2624, for information on how you can participate with a Capital/Endowment gift for Scouting.