Vancouver East 99th Scout

In early 1996, Fr. Dominic Ip with a vision of building a Catholic Scout Troop to be part of the Parish's Youth Ministry and community .  He , Fr. Dominic Ip commissioned a committee to start the dream of expanding the brotherhood of Scouting.  The investiture of the 99th St. Francis Xavier Scout Troop was held on April 27th, 1996.  Within two years, many of the Scouts had matured and  grown too big for their britches.  Hence, the Venture Company was founded in 1998 to accommodate their hunger for bigger adventure.  In 1999, the Wolf Cub Pack was created for children who were trained to become Scouts. While many of the group!|s activities have focused on producing responsible young adults through spiritual, intellectual, and physical development, they have also generated lots of fun, of course!  There is always emphasis on working in teams and developing group skills that the youth could apply and find them useful in all aspects of their lives. Since our inception, the group has taken part in a long list of indoor and outdoor adventures.  Some of our more exciting events include hikes, camps, expeditions at Garibaldi Mountain and the Stein Valley; a bike camp through Salt Spring Island; kayaking trips; a visit to the Parliament building in Victoria; attending two Provincial Jamborees at Camp Byng on the Sunshine Coast and winter camping at Manning Park amid a lot of snow. Not only do the Scouts know how to enjoy themselves but they are also proud to serve the Church Parish and East Vancouver community.  Our group is often sighted wearing bright !!±yellow and blue jackets!!L and their uniforms at public events such as Chinese New Year and Remembrance Day parades, Bazaar, Walkathon, and dinners.  You may even have heard stories about the young and rambunctious Cubs appearing at a retirement home singing Christmas carols and spreading holiday cheer to the elderly.  The youth are also taught the value of hard work, dedication, and duty through hosting fundraising activities such as Car Washes, Apple Day Sales, and bottle drives. Our Scout Group has become more than just a "club" for our youth!Vit!|s also an opportunity for parents to gather and socialize.  Most parents work together with great devotion to make sure that everyoneenjoys.  They make personal sacrifices for car-pooling youth to events, fundraising and even spoiling the leaders with junk food at camps!  Moreover, it is often the Parent Committee that administrates proper funding and planning for the events.  We have shared countless great moments and celebrated many monumental achievements of our youth.  For those involved, Scouts the Scouts Group has become more or less like a "second family". All these activities are instrumental in helping to develop the youth into respectable and caring citizens.  Furthermore, it is the intent of our program to aid the youth to acquire leadership skills, to be self-educating and to contribute to the community.  Their achievements are our successes as parents and educators.  Thus it becomes important for us to solidify the core values of the Scout promise within our youth. These important values entail their duty to God, their duty to others and their duty to themselves.  They learn the value of trust and work ethic along with a commitment to perform their personal best.  The dedication and enthusiasm of the parents, the leaders and the Scouting youth have been reflected in the past successes of the 99 th East Vancouver Scout Group. They will continue to make miracles in the years to come.

For more information, please visit scouts' official web page, http://www.sfxscouts.org