December 2020

Dear Friend of the Bronxville Scout Cabin,

2020 will go down as one of the most challenging in the 100-plus-year history of local Scouting.

In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, all of our local Scouting units had to suspend their in-person activities.  That left these units, and their Scouts and adult leaders, in limbo.

And by April, the Scout Cabin had to cancel all outside rentals at least until March 2021. Thus in one fell swoop, a major source of the Cabin’s income – rental from outside groups – suddenly disappeared.

Friend, I have been writing to you for years about the many great benefits that Scouting brings not only to Bronxville, but to other youth from Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Eastchester, Tuckahoe, Larchmont, and New Rochelle.  

Our Scouts are learning traditional values from the Boy Scouts of America’s great programs, and carrying them forward as they attend college, and then begin their adult lives.

Some of our Scouts come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and it is in great part because of your generosity that we are able to serve and work with them, even if they can’t afford the modest costs scouting.

The income we receive from rentals also helps underwrite the costs of the cabin, which, including maintenance, insurance, and upgrades, now approaches $40,000 per year. 

But with rental income at zero since March, we must turn to your generosity to help make up the difference.

We understand that some of those to whom I write today have suffered economic setbacks due to COVID-19. So what I’m about to ask doesn’t apply to you.

But to the others, who have been economically fortunate in 2020, can I ask again for your generosity in supporting the Bronxville Scout Cabin?

Besides dues paid by the Scouts, our only outside income is from the weekend rentals of the cabin, and this fundraising letter.

Without your support, it would be impossible for our Committee to serve our local boys and young men. It is far too costly.

In 2004 we established the William (Bill) Sanford Scouting Endowment Fund, to which many have donated. An Eagle Scout and Silver Beaver Award recipient, Bill was a lifelong friend of Scouting. We continue to accept additional contributions in his memory. His family will be duly notified of your generous support.

The Bucca Family has also established the Ronald Bucca Memorial Fund to honor Ronald’s memory and to provide funds for leadership training. Ron had great respect for the Scouts and their values. Fire Marshall Ron Bucca was a Troop 2 Leader who died heroically while rescuing workers at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. We also continue to accept additional donations in his memory and will notify his widow and children – one of who is serving his country by following his father’s path into the military – of your generous support.

To those of you who have donated in the past, we are most grateful for your loyal support of Scouting in our area. To past donors, and to new ones, we turn to you today to ask for your help. Please assist us in our mission to continue to provide the high level of services we provide for hundreds of Scouts, and their dozens of adult leaders, each and every year.

This year some local Scout units have lost their meeting locations in churches and schools due to these institutions’ new COVID mitigation restrictions. It is only because our Cabin has been made available to these units that they have avoided having to stop their longstanding and successful programs.

Can you offer a donation today to support your local Scouts? (It is tax-deductible to the extent of the law).  We assure you that your gift will be carefully used to benefit the many boys and young men of your community who have chosen to pursue the noble path of Scouting.

God Bless America,

Howard Rakov, President
Bronxville Scout Committee