ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (Jan. 27, 2010) – The recent Hardee’s/RBC Bank BSA Classic Golf Tournament raised more than $140,000 for the East Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Council announced today. Since the tournament began in 1988, the annual event has raised nearly $2.4 million for the local Scouts.
This fall’s tournament included160 golfers who competed at Mid Pines and Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines and - as in years past - proceeds went to the Kinston-based BSA Council which represents Scouting in 20 Eastern North Carolina counties.
“This was another good tournament and the important thing is that it continues to recognize the importance of the Scouting program to the youth in our area,” said Nick Boddie, vice chairman of Boddie-Noell Enterprises, the Rocky Mount-based Hardee’s franchise operator which initiated the BSA Classic. Boddie himself earned his Eagle Scout rank in 1944.
Boddie-Noell, which is the largest Hardee’s franchise operator in the United States, also supports Scouting outside the BSA Classic, holding seats on the Council’s Board and providing in-kind contributions for both the Council and its area camps. Last month, the Council announced that the Scout’s Camp Bonner in Pamlico County is being renamed Camp Boddie in honor of the significant impact the Boddie family has made to the organization over the years.
“The Boddie family has come to the rescue of East Carolina Council many times,” said Ray Franks, council executive for the East Carolina Council. “When the dining hall burned at Camp Bonner, the Boddies provided a new one. When the camp needed a major facelift the Boddie family provided the leadership necessary to raise $2 million to update facilities and infrastructure.
“Without the Hardee’s/RBC BSA Classic Golf Tournament, East Carolina Council’s ability to deliver the Boy Scout program would be greatly decreased,” Franks added. “In 2009, the East Carolina Council recruited more new youth into Boy Scouting than any other of the 18 councils in North Carolina and Virginia – including larger councils located in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Richmond and Roanoke. Without this golf tournament that record of success would not be possible.”
The family-owned Boddie-Noell Enterprises now operates 340 Hardee’s restaurants across four states and employs more than 12,500 people. The company also operates Texas Steakhouse & Saloon restaurants, Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurants, and Café Carolina and Bakery specialty cafés. The company also has a land development subsidiary that includes the Currituck Club on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Arlington Place near New Bern, New Kent Vineyards located between Williamsburg and Richmond and Marshes Light on Manteo’s waterfront.
The East Carolina Council of the BSA also receives a portion of its annual operating dollars from nine different United Way partners and affiliates, including the United Way of Rocky Mount – Nash; Lenoir; Greene; Pitt County; Beaufort County; Martin County; Roanoke Valley; Edgecombe County; Onslow County; Coastal Carolina; and designations only from Wilson United Way. For more information, visit www.eccbsa.org.
Contact: Ray Franks
252-522-1521 rfranks@bsamail.org
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