Congratulations to the new District Award of Merit recipients: Nadia Dhillon & Rebeca Rafael!
Thanks again to the Southern Alameda County Buddhist Church for their hospitality, to Chef Charlie, and the cook staff for a delicious meal, and to the Troop 120 color guard.
We had ~49 Scouters & Scouts in attendance to honor all the awardees.
The District Award of Merit is a Council award given to Scouters who have made an impact on the lives of youth through noteworthy service given at the District level. The service can be a single extraordinary act, a number of individual efforts, or results over an extended period. As a National BSA Council award, the number that can be presented is strictly limited. Mission Peak District is authorized two awards this year.
All candidates displayed service of an outstanding nature to our Packs, Troops, Venturing Crews, Explorer Posts, the District and the Golden Gate Area Council.
For the Award of Merit, we are especially looking for service beyond just the unit. Beyond Scouting, the selection committee recognizes service to community, religious, youth activities, fraternal and professional organizations.
Nominations for next year’s awards are open all year round on the District Adult Recocgnization Webpage
Nadia Dhillon
This Scouter started simply as an involved and supportive parent helping their son’s scout troop. For the past six years, she has been a consistent volunteer who will take on any task to help ensure the troop is successful. She also serves as a Unit Commissioner advising and assisting unit leadership. She took training in Exploring and is now actively working to guide the resurgence of the medical Exploring Post at Washington Hospital. She is currently assisting the Golden Gate Area Council in obtaining participation and support for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion fundraising event. Her biggest impact on youth has been her ongoing effort to make the Scout Promise and Law commitments to a “Duty to God” and a “Scout is Reverent” meaningful to the cubs, scouts, and parents in Mission Peak. During the past four years, she has organized and obtained the support of the diverse faiths in our cities to participate in the District Prayer Hike. Here over 100 scouts each year are introduced to Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, Protestant, Catholic, LDS, Jewish, Sikh, and other faith traditions. Through her efforts scouts strengthen their faith and learn to appreciate and understand others in our diverse community. Mission Peak District is pleased to present the District Award of Merit to Troop 110 and Mission Peak Committee Member Nadia Dhillon.
Rebeca Rafael
This scouter has provided extensive service to the scouts and scouters in Mission Peak District for the past 7 years. As with many scouters, she started by assisting the pack and her son’s den, but soon volunteered to be pack Committee Chair. When her son bridged into the newly chartered troop, she immediately began assisting at troop meetings. When asked what her position was, the answer was she helped everywhere. It is hard to think of the troop without her. Officially, she was responsible for membership and soon became an Assistant Scoutmaster. She has been active in the extensive outdoor program and last year served as trek leader at Northern Tier. Through her interest in keeping the older boys involved and challenged by Scouting, she has initiated the chartering of a Venture Crew aligned with the troop. In Mission Peak, she is the force behind the District Merit Badge Extravaganza. She has obtained facilities, recruited numerous Merit Badge Counselors, and improved the quality of the program. Additionally, she has been invaluable in addressing some of the many challenges of working with the Fremont Unified School District. Mission Peak District is pleased to present the District Award of Merit to Troop 120 Assistant Scoutmaster, Crew 120 Associate Advisor, and m District Advancement Committee member Rebeca Rafael.