The following is from Bryan on Scouting, the blog for adult Scouting leaders, at blog.scoutingmagazine.org/.

“With apologies to the ubiquitous convenience store chain, more Eagle Scout projects went up last year alone than the total number of 7-Elevens currently open worldwide.

Yes, the number of 2012 Eagle Scout projects bested the number of worldwide 7-Elevens by a score of 57,976 to 50,250.

I bring up this incongruous comparison to remind you that there’s an Eagle Scout project on every corner. There’s probably one within walking distance from you right now. Think about the scale of this for a second: Some 50,000 new Eagle Scout projects are completed each year. That’s roughly 137 significant improvements to the community every day, improvements created by the best, brightest, and most-prepared leaders around.

The Eagle Scout Service Project is a remarkably powerful force that’s transforming our country for the better each time a city park, church, or school gets repaired and beautified.”

To carry Bryan’s calculations a little further, in my experience a typical Eagle project requires a 150 man-hours of service from the Eagle Scout candidate and his volunteers.  Multiply that by 50,000 Eagle Projects a year, and you end up with a staggering 7.5 million service hours.  Scouts, you are making a difference and you are part of this huge contribution to our communities and country!  Thank you!