FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Local leaders in Fort Pierce are now looking to start up again Boy Scout Troop 772, a group that seemed to have a positive effect on teens.
"I see the need, and I am not the kind of person who will see a need and not attempt to fulfill it," Jenny Champagne, who is working to reorganize the troop, said.
More than 10 years ago, Troop 772 got started in Fort Pierce thanks to a group of people that included Champagne, Scott Van Duzer and Jeff Isaac.
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"All those folks came together, the sheriff, the fire chief. The mayors were great," Isaac, who is now a Scout executive in Chicago, said. "These kids learned how to swim at the Indian River College swimming pool. I mean, they would never have walked on that campus otherwise."
Back then, the troop traveled to Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee, meeting leaders and even President Barack Obama.
"It was extremely impactful, think about it, when you take a person who's never had anyone talk positive to them," Isaac said.
Over the years, however, the troop faded away from a lack of new members.
"The need is even greater, but our understanding of our community has grown as well," Champagne said. "This is our purpose, this is our overall purpose, changing lives, and we have the formula."