Venturer is lone American to receive 2016 Messengers of Peace Hero Award

Katie Hancock, a Venturer from Lubbock, Texas, was the lone Boy Scouts of America honoree to receive the 2016 Messengers of Peace Hero Award.

The award, presented Nov. 23, 2016, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, recognizes Scouts, volunteers and professionals for their work toward creating a better world. It was first presented in 2012.

In all, 24 Scouts, Scouters and Scout groups received the award. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud and Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the honors on behalf of the international Scouting community.

Recipients included a young woman who started a Food for Life program in Ethiopia, a young man who created an anti-bullying campaign in Costa Rica and a pair of Syrian refugee brothers who are building a new Scouting family in Australia.

Katie’s efforts were no less remarkable. After flooding hit Lubbock in 2015, Katie helped members of the community who had been left stranded without access to clean water.

By representing the BSA on a global stage, Katie reminds us that, as members of the BSA, we’re part of something bigger. Scouting has 40 million members in 164 countries around the world. The Messengers of Peace movement, of which the BSA is a proud participant, harnesses that power to build a better world.

So far, the Messengers of Peace initiative has contributed more than 700 million service hours to communities worldwide. The goal: 1 billion community service hours by the year 2020.