Scouts honor Jeff Gordon
Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2009
Jeff Gordon is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. He's won the Daytona 500 three times. And he co-owns a racing team that's won championships of its own.
And after Tuesday, he has something in common with 13 presidents, Charles Lindbergh, Walt Disney, Hank Aaron and Colin Powell.
He's a Silver Buffalo.
Or at least he received the Silver Buffalo award, Boy Scouts of America's highest honor given to volunteers. Gordon got the award Tuesday during the annual BSA Mecklenburg County Council's Friends of Scouting Leadership Dinner at the Charlotte Convention Center.
He was recognized for his work recruiting boys to Cub Scouts and other humanitarian ventures involving children.
Gordon, whose stepfather is an Eagle Scout, has been the honorary chairman and spokesman for the “Race Into Cub Scouting,” a national campaign to recruit boys into Cub Scouts. He made PSAs and personal appearances for Cub Scouts. The foundation he started in 1999 has raised $7 million to help children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses.
“Jeff has been a great supporter of scouting the last three years; he's been very instrumental in the successful campaign to recruit kids into Boy Scouts,” Bob Mazzuca, BSA's chief scout executive, told the Observer before the dinner. “He's been very generous with his time. Just his stature has been a huge help for us to recruit kids.”
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