Greetings family, friends, supporters, and those who have
been following and reading in the last 43 days,
As per the boilerplate form letter I received on July 24,
2015, I was given 60 days to send the National B.S.A Headquarters a request to
review the decision of my dismissal. Yesterday that request was mailed
overnight delivery and should arrive by this afternoon.
My request included;
ü A
letter explaining my request for reinstatement
ü Letters
from many requesting my reinstatement and speaking to my character and or
performance as a Scout, Scout leader and the citizen I am in my community.
ü A
petition in support of my reinstatement with over thee hundred names THANK
YOU to all that have signed it thus far!
ü My
professional work experience over the last 23 years most of which as a youth
worker
ü Training
and professional credentials
ü A
Scouting history of my youth and adult years as well as trainings
ü A
copy of my Eagle Scout Certificate, Vigil Certificate, Scout Leader Training
Award, and Distinguished Camp Tri-Mount Award. (If they gave out a certificate
rather than a plaque for District Award of Merit that would have been included,
however it was listed on in my Scouting history)
ü Lots
of photos of me as a Pack and Den Leader, involvement at various Scouting
events, involvement in Venture Crew 405 (one of my favorite units to be a part
off), my family in Scouting, my “father and son” Scouting moments, and many
more photos.
ü A
list of the many other volunteer community activities I have been or am still
involved including some pictures.
ü A
DVD copy of the FreeMickey Documentary
ü And
many other documents supporting my case for reinstatement
I want to take this time to formally thank;
Ø The
folks who have thus far sent me letters of support and requests for my reinstatement
Ø The
folks who thus far signed the petition
Ø Those
who have reached out to me in an effort to provide assistance and support
through phone calls, text messages, e-mails or Facebook messages, face to face
conversations to talk about things or simply ask how I am doing.
Ø The
Naked Crusaders and the time they spent on the production of
their FreeMickey documentary
Ø Members
of my extended “Scouting Family” who have been there for me in so many ways and
have shown me that there is a “Brotherhood within Scouting” and
it runs deep and strong.
Ø My
brother Paul Benjamin, my life long confidante and best friend
Ø My
brother Pete who has been there with me standing with me shoulder to shoulder Love
ya Bro! and his wife, my sister in-law Catherine
Ø My
in-laws and extended family members in their support
Ø My
wife Christine who has been my rock in all of this and more than that one of
the coordinators of the movement, my secretary, my biggest supporter, my
everything. I love you honey! Ø Last but certainly not least my greatest motivation for fighting this injustice and not just walking away, the one person who brought me back into Scouting after a not so active period of time, the apple of my eye and source of pride, my son Michael. You never cease to amaze me with everything you do and your love. I strive to live my life to be a person of honor and conviction and someone who you can be proud of. I continually try to live my life and “lead by example” so that you may one day grow up to not only follow in my footsteps but become better, do more, and go further in life than I ever did. I am trying to do my best to teach you through my life the person who you should be and more important how to deal with the adversities that life brings. Love you buddy!
Hopefully haven’t left anyone out
My struggle is not over as the folks at the National BSA
Headquarters will be reviewing my letter and materials. Their decision as per
the form letter could be soon or could take months.
In the meantime if you still want to write letters I will
send them to National. If you haven't yet signed the petition and chose to do
so it is not shut down yet. As the petition hits new goals I will also send the
lists of names to National.
THANK YOU IS NOT ENOUGH!!!
Love One Another and Leave things better than you found
them,
Michael “Mickey” Profera Jr.
Perhaps we will meet again on the trail.
