Caney Fork Boy Scouts Raise Almost $59,000 To Fund Scouting

The Caney Fork Boy Scout District raised some $58,800 to fund scouting during a Tuesday luncheon.

More than 600 students participated in scouting locally last year including nine who reached Eagle Scout rank. Eagle Scout William Price of Troop 156 said he did know where he would be without scouting.

“All I can do is express gratitude,” Price said. “I’ve met some incredible people throughout the way, a lot of like-minded people from all different walks of life that all came together with Boy Scouts.”

The district also recognized CEO Paul Korth and all the employees at Cookeville Regional Medical Center for their work during the last 24 months.

“When I go back to the time when I was in scouting, one of the first things I learned was to ‘Be Prepared,'” Korth said. “When the tornado hit in March, we were prepared. We took care of well over 100 patients that evening. 2:00 in the morning I think when it first hit, we were called. We had staff among staff who were willing, able, and prepared to come in to take care of patients.”

“But when the pandemic of COVID-19 hit, nobody was prepared for that,” Korth said. “We didn’t know about it, and neither did anybody else in the United States nor anybody in the world. We dealt with things that we never had dealt with: we dealt with shortages of supplies–of critical supplies, things that we needed every day–what were we going to do? We adapted. We learned how to do things differently.”

Tennessee Tech Provost Dr. Lori Bruce hosted the event. She said scouting continues to provide an outlet for young people. The money raised will help students across the region who might not be able to afford fees, clothing or other parts of scouting.