FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2025
For more information:
Alison Harrison, Marketing and Communications Director
James Parnell, Scout Executive
Virginia Beach, Va. – Scouting America Tidewater Council donated $91,980 in Scout popcorn to the USO of Southern Virginia for distribution to local military personnel and their families during the holiday season.
Scouting America is a values-based youth development organization. Scouting offers programs for boys and girls ages 5-17, which emphasize duty to country, acts of patriotic service, responsible citizenship, leadership, character, and personal fitness.
Each fall, local Scouts conduct an annual popcorn sale to raise funds for their activities and adventures and to learn the value of earning their own way. Throughout the sale, they also collect donations to send popcorn to locally based members of the U.S. Armed Forces, their families, and veterans’ organizations.
Scouting America Tidewater Council has supported military personnel and their families through donated popcorn to the USO of Southern Virginia for nearly 25 years.
This year, more than 1,200 Scouts in 87 Cub Scout packs, Scouts BSA troops, and Venturing crews participated in the Tidewater Council popcorn sale and military donation campaign. The donations they collected purchased more than 3,500 containers of popcorn for the USO Norfolk Naval Station (including Little Creek, Oceana, USCG Portsmouth, and Naval Station Norfolk AMC Terminal), USO Norfolk International Airport, USO Fort Eustis (including Fort Eustis, Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, and USCG Yorktown), and USO Langley Air Force Base.
Local military and their families will enjoy this generous popcorn gift as they pass through USO comfort centers at regional airports and at various USO programs.
“Our service members always appreciate this time of year as we enter the holiday period, and we have this tasty treat offered at the centers,” said Kenneth Miller, Senior Area Operations Manager, Southern Virginia, USO Mid-Atlantic Area of Operations. “It’s something they always look forward to.”
The USO Mid-Atlantic posted on its Facebook page, “A MASSIVE thank you to Scouting America Tidewater Council for their incredibly generous donation of thousands of containers of popcorn in 16 different varieties! Our service members across Hampton Roads are loving this seasonal treat – and with so many flavors to choose from, there’s something for everyone! Thank you again, Tidewater Council, for supporting our heroes in such a fun (and tasty!) way!”
About the USO
The USO is the premier service organization of the United States military and its families, and the USO of Southern Virginia serves the largest concentration of military personnel in the country. The mission of the USO is to strengthen America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home, and country, throughout their service to the nation. More information about USO Southern Virginia is available at USO Mid-Atlantic.
About Scouting America Tidewater Council
Established in 1911, Tidewater Council is the fifth oldest Scouting America council in the United States. Today, the council serves approximately 4,000 youth and 1,700 adult volunteers in the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, and the North Carolina counties of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans. To learn more about Tidewater Council or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit TidewaterBSA.com, email [email protected], or call 757-497-2688.
About Scouting America
Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®”
Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Scouting aims to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have participated in Scouting’s programs since its founding in the United States in 1910. Today, more than one million youth are served by 477,000 dedicated adult volunteers in local councils nationwide.
To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, visit Scouting.org.
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