Boy Scouts try to earn Latinos' badge of trust

Latino kids are not naturally attracted to the Scouts, but this new recruitment effort by the Boy Scouts may change that. - - Donna Poisl

by Antonio Olivo / Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO -- The smells of roasting jalapenos and buttery pancakes swirled together in the Tinley Park forest preserve campsite as mothers chattering in Spanish prepared breakfast for the boys in Cub Scout Pack 3345.

The mostly Mexican-American children, wolfing down their meal in the southern Cook County woods, represented what the Boy Scouts of America sees as its new face after striving for nearly 100 years to embody painter Norman Rockwell's idyllic vision of America.

Worried about dwindling membership, the organization has launched a pilot recruitment effort to double its ranks of Latinos to 200,000 before its centennial next February. Chicago is among six test sites for even more ambitious plans to tap into the nation's fastest-growing demographic.
Click on the headline to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.