National Boy Scouting Service Award to Honor Ann & Myles Caggins, Calvin Smyre

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Wednesday, October 16th, 2024

Boy Scouts are nationally recognized for their acts of service and “good turns,” and later this month, the local Chattahoochee Council will recognize three area leaders for their “good turns” to the Scouting program, its members and our community. 

Ann CagginsMyles B. Caggins Jr. and Calvin Smyre will each receive the Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award on Thursday, Oct. 22, for their outstanding community contributions and exemplary professional achievements. The awards banquet begins at 6 p.m. at the St. Luke Church Ministry Center. Individual tickets, tables of eight and event sponsorships are available. Aflac is this year’s presenting sponsor. 

“Through their personal and professional lives, Ann, Myles and Calvin have championed the Scouting program and its values in the Chattahoochee Valley and beyond,” said Charles Huff, this year’s event chair, a longtime Scouting volunteer and a local business leader. “We’re thankful each has allowed us to celebrate their contributions as models of ‘helping other people at all times’ as we recite in our Scout Oath.” 

Established in 1970 as a national service award, the Whitney M. Young Jr. Award is named after and bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America on behalf of the late civil rights activist and National Urban League executive director. It recognizes outstanding service by individuals and organizations who champion, develop or implement Scouting opportunities that enhance youth living in disadvantaged areas or amid unfortunate circumstances. 

Programs like Scoutreach ensure that all young people who want to join Scouting can do so regardless of their ethnic background, where they live or their life situations. The Chattahoochee Council partners with organizations like the YMCA of Metro Columbus, Phenix City Housing Authority, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley, the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley and the United Way of West Georgia to meet “at-risk” youth where they are so they can benefit further from activities combining fun with learning—and proven Scouting values with positive role models.

“Scoutreach and our other programs serving our youth wouldn’t exist without advocates like the Caggins and Calvin Smyre,” said Tonya Dobbins, the council’s scout executive and CEO. “The Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award exists to honor leaders like them who exemplify the values of equality, opportunity and leadership.”

According to Dobbins, funds raised through this year’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award Dinner will open doors for the community’s at-risk youth by providing experiences that enhance their developmental growth, self-esteem, character-building and life skills while exposing them to vocational and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs.

The council’s past Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award recipients include Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Ben Richardson; retired Russell County District Court Judge Michael Bellamy; LaTivia Rivers, the Columbus Visitor Information Center manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development; retired Aflac U.S. President Teresa White; business professional and Muscogee County School Board member Dr. Kia Chambers; and former Columbus City councilwoman Mimi Woodson, currently the state’s longest-serving Hispanic elected official.