One of the many unsung heroes in our community in the era of COVID-19 is ScoutReach’s Roseline Vazquez, a full-time Scouting Professional who is now working with others to coordinate and deliver food and basic necessities to underprivileged Scouting families in Chester County.

ScoutReach is a program of the Chester County Council, Scouts BSA that ensures all young people throughout the Council have an opportunity to join Scouting, regardless of their circumstances, neighborhood, or ethnic background. Indeed, many of our disadvantaged youth would not have the privilege of participating in the three aims of Scouting – citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness – without the ScoutReach program.

Vazquez, a wife and mother of three with a bachelor’s degree in education, is a native of Puerto Rico. She had been working as a maternal and child-care consultant and later as a Head Start teacher for PathStone Corporation in Kennett Square, before joining the Chester County Council in 2017.

“I decided to be part of this organization because I saw there were other ways to teach and continue to improve the lives of our disadvantaged neighbors,” she said. “With ScoutReach, we have the opportunity to combine community resources with traditional Scouting to prepare individuals to be successful.”

According to Vazquez, Scouting addresses many of the social concerns that the disadvantaged and at-risk youth she knows are facing.

“We give them the opportunity to accept responsibility, to develop leadership skills, and to care about causes beyond their self-interest,” she said. “Our biggest asset in these neighborhoods is a well-defined program based on values, learning-by-doing, positive role models, and having fun.”

ScoutReach is aimed at schools and Section 8 apartment complexes in Kennett Square, Oxford, Avondale, West Grove, and Coatesville.

As ScoutReach’s District Executive, Vazquez wears many hats. Typical weekly duties include designing curricula, running troop meetings, working on grant proposals, planning assignments, and hiring and training staff.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has made her even busier. With the closure of schools, for example, many needy children in our area and around the country are now without access to the nutritious meals they received each day through the National School Lunch Program.

“My main role is to connect the family with the community resources available,” she said. “But now, the pandemic situation has increased all of these needs, and I have a greater desire to work harder than ever before. We want to make sure that no one will be hungry in these difficult times.”

Vazquez and other members of her ScoutReach team are now happily bringing meals to those in need, while maintaining the rules of social distancing. They are also working in collaboration with Mighty Writers to aid in food distribution out of the Garage Community Youth Center in West Grove and with the Square Roots Collective of Kennett Square, as well as other agencies.

Vazquez also works to obtain support and donations wherever she can find them. Recently, for example, she took the initiative to arrange for free breakfast and lunches to be donated by Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Food donations are also received from the Food Bank and numerous Mexican bakeries and restaurants she has contacted.

As she decides where next to seek additional donations while coordinating another day of food distribution, Vazquez is proud of her ScoutReach team of leaders and volunteers who are now part of this new, critical mission.

“It all comes back to Scouting,” she said. “This is another way to show the community what Scouting can do in their lives. There is something inside that I have in my heart when I see how so many want to help their community. Scouting means helping, and that’s why we are here.”

For more information on ScoutReach, or on ways to help their COVID-19 response, contact Roseline Vazquez at Roseline.Vazquez@scouting.org or call 610-732-9843.

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