James E West Fellowship Award

The James E. West Fellowship Award is a national recognition for individuals who contribute $1,000 or more in cash or securities to their local council endowment trust fund. Organizations or individuals may contribute an award in honor of someone--an Eagle Scout, a Silver Beaver recipient, council president, or district chairman, or in memory of a departed loved one, business associate, Scout or Scouter. 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.

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Form of Recognition

The James E. West Fellowship Award is an attractive 8-by-10-inch certificate, personalized with the donor's name, date of gift, and council name. In addition, there will be a distinctive lapel pin/charm and an embroidered square knot for uniform wear. While it is a national recognition, the James E. West Fellowship award is authorized and presented by the local council.

Background and Significance of the Award

The award is named after the first Chief Scout Executive of Scouting 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 farseeing 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 their local council.

Council History and Background

The Scouting America program was brought to Okinawa in 1945 with military dependent families. Scout leaders petitioned the U.S. military and Scouting America (then known as the Boy Scouts of America) to organize a council to serve the program in the Western Pacific. The council was chartered in April 1953. The Heritage Society of the Far East Council was formed in 1994. A major gift from Phil Campanella, a Kobe businessman, moved the endowment effort to a new level. Mr. Campanella is one of the organizers of the council in the early 1950's, and a past council president. Mr. Campanella also played an instrumental role in organizing the Boy's Town of Kobe, an orphanage, following the end of Word War II.

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