Scouts from across the country spent the day on the New River Gorge. On Wednesday, July 26th, scouts teamed up with the New River Park service to make two picnic areas handicap accessible at the Grandview Sandbar Campground. They also made improvements to campsites that are already wheelchair- friendly.

According to the New River Gorge Spokesperson, Julena Campbell, this service projects will give more people the chance to the enjoy the park.

“Making areas more accessible like this will allow us to serve a greater number of visitors and some different visitors that may not have been able to recreate here before,” Campbell explained.

Scouts attending the 2017 National Jamboree have already logged over 100,000 hours of community service in the past week. Boy scout from Troop 62, Nick Kania, believed these service projects have taught the scouts more than just manual labor. 

“I think it teaches work ethic, I think it teaches sense of community and helping one’s community. I think for us on a personal level, I think it’s a good bonding experience. It brings the troop and patrol closer together, and allows us to really get out there and actually do something which is the goal of scouting,” Kania said.

More than 200 scouts spent the day shoveling gravel into picnic and camping areas to make them easier for people to access. They also worked to complete a wheel-chair accessible trail that leads down to the river.