Boy Scouts of America® Leatherstocking Council

Please Join The James E. West Endowment Society

Thanks to the forward-thinking individuals who came before us, 43% of the Leatherstocking Council’s annual operating budget is funded by interest income from planned gifts that we have received since 1910.

We realize it is no small thing to trust the safekeeping of one’s legacy to a charity.

Therefore, we are proud to recognize individuals who have included and decide to include the Leatherstocking Council, BSA in their last will and testament. By doing so, you become a James E. West Fellow and as such, you receive a beautiful plaque and your name, or that of a loved one you would like to honor, is permanently added to our James E. West Wall of Honor in the lobby of our Council Headquarters in Utica, NY. The Leatherstocking Council, BSA, provides training and support services to Scouting volunteers and families across Delaware, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Otsego, and Schoharie counties.

Ways to become a James E. West Fellow:

Name the Leatherstocking Council, BSA as a beneficiary of any one of the following:

1. An irrevocable planned gift, estate gift, bequest, or trust
2. A qualified distribution from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
3. A gift of cash or appreciated stock of $1,000 or more (payable over three years for Eagle Scouts and their families)

The James E. West Fellowship Award is a National Endowment recognition for individuals or organizations who contribute $1,000 or more in cash or securities to the Leatherstocking Council Endowment Fund. This contribution is in addition to, and does not diminish or replace, the donor’s annual gift to the Council’s Friends of Scouting Campaign, though some donors will endow their annual gift to FOS. Generally speaking, after a year, the interest income on a permanently restricted gift to our endowment will generate approximately $50.00 for our annual FOS campaign.

A James E. West Fellowship Award may be given by a group of Scouters or individual Scouter to honor a fellow Scouter, as a memorial on the death of a Scouter, or to recognize a special achievement like a new Eagle Scout.

The award is named after the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America who exemplified Ralph Waldo Emerson’s observation that “an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.” Scouting today is the “lengthened shadow” of more than three decades of the far-seeing and dedicated leadership of Dr. James E. West.

Those who are recognized by the James E. West Fellowship Award will cast their own “lengthened shadow” as they help ensure the Scouting legacy for future generations of young people and create the financial stability of the program in the twenty-first century for the Leatherstocking Council.

On behalf of all the Scouting families who benefit from the programs you support with this meaningful gift, thank you for your consideration.

Please consult your financial advisor, but if you do not have one and would like to speak with one of the volunteers on our endowment committee, please contact James.Hastie@Scouting.org or call Jim on his mobile number: (315)263-5326.

Thank you!

Download a James E. West Fellowship Application 

List of James E. West Fellows, those who have kindly contributed to The Leatherstocking Council, BSA Endowment Campaign to keep local Scouting alive and well.

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