Issues: Environment, Community Development, Well-being
Stakeholders: Communities
Region: North America
In 2004, Boy Scouts of America launched the Good Turn for America initiative, a nationwide call to service, to address the problems of hunger, homelessness and poor health in the U.S. For its service project, the W.D. Boyce Council, Boy Scouts of America, in Peoria, Illinois, decided to partner with Habitat for Humanity to create a recycling program called Scouts CAN.
In 2005, Scouts CAN’s goal was to raise enough money through the collection of aluminum cans to build a Habitat for Humanity home for a family living in need. Two thousand scouts from 14 counties picked up cans along roads, parks and neighborhoods. They also enlisted local businesses to collect cans in their lunchrooms. Novelis donated funds for posters, banners, scout patches and trucks to serve as mobile recycling centers.
As a result of the combined effort of the scouts, neighbors, local businesses and corporations, Scouts CAN reached its goal – raising approximately $70,000 – enough to build the family a home. Due to the program’s success, other Boy Scout councils are looking to replicate the program in their communities. Perhaps most important has been the recycling education component of the campaign – which has even influenced one city government to appoint a recycling manager in its city.
Novelis is proud to be a supporter of a program that takes aim at a number of social issues and engages community involvement to bring about needed change. In 2006, Novelis received the Mutual of America Foundation’s Community Partnership Award for its role in this project.
