About 255 Pathfinders and leaders from various parts of the world entered the Guinness World Records on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 7, 2024, by filling backpacks with school supplies at the same time during the International Pathfinder Camporee, in Gillette, in the state of Wyoming (USA). According to ADRA and the North American Division of the Adventist Church (NAD), the group surpassed the target of 250 participants and set a new world record in the category of most people filling backpacks with school supplies simultaneously.
But the record was just the start. According to ADRA, after breaking the mark the group did not stop: they kept filling backpacks until they completed 6,200 units, all donated by the humanitarian agency and destined for children in need in the United States and in the territory of Guam-Micronesia.
What happened in Gillette
On the afternoon of August 7, 2024, thousands of Pathfinders were gathered at the CAM-PLEX, in Gillette, when about 255 of them — among young people, leaders and representatives from different countries — got into position for a single task: to fill backpacks with school supplies at exactly the same time.
Each participant received at least one backpack and filled it with a set of school items, such as pencils, pens, markers and notebooks. According to ADRA and the North American Division, the goal was to surpass the mark of 250 people performing the task simultaneously — the minimum number required to validate the record category. With about 255 participants, the target was met.
According to the official sources, the group completed the challenge well within the allotted time: the feat was finished in less than five minutes, the maximum window set by the Guinness protocol for that category. In the end, a new world record was confirmed for the most people filling backpacks with school supplies at the same time.
What event this is: the international camporee
To understand the scale of the feat, it helps to know where it took place. A camporee is a large Pathfinder camp — the club for children and teenagers (generally ages 10 to 15) run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It brings several units and clubs together in one place for days of camping, outdoor activities, drill, honors, music and spiritual programming.
The International Camporee is the largest of them: it happens every five years, organized by the North American Division (NAD) — the administrative region of the Adventist Church that covers the United States, Canada, Bermuda and Guam-Micronesia —, and it welcomes Pathfinders from dozens of countries. The 2024 edition, held from August 5 to 11 in Gillette, had the theme "Believe the Promise" and gathered tens of thousands of participants, which places it among the largest youth gatherings in the world.
It is this scale that explains why a crowd record, like filling backpacks together, is possible there: few events concentrate so many Pathfinders in the same space and at the same time.
The partnership behind the effort: ADRA and Adventist Education
The record was not a stray number: it grew out of a partnership with a purpose. The effort brought together ADRA — the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, the Church's global humanitarian arm — with the Adventist Education department of the North American Division, which administers the network of Adventist schools in the region.
The idea was to turn a record-setting game into concrete help for school-age children. "We wanted to help the community, involve the Pathfinders and show them that Adventist Education engages in many ways," said Nicole Mattson, associate superintendent of Education for the Lake Union Conference, in a statement reproduced by ADRA (free translation).
On the humanitarian agency's side, ADRA's vice president of Sustainable Development, Sonya Funna Evelyn, highlighted the nature of the initiative: "ADRA is honored to partner with the North American Division's Adventist Education on this unique backpack event for the benefit of children," she said, also in a free translation of the statement released by the agency.
According to ADRA, support for education is a longstanding hallmark of the agency, which reports serving more than 1.6 million children around the world through about 160 projects tied to the theme.
Read alsoInternational Camporee draws more than 60,000 to Gillette and records 1,187 baptismsBeyond the record: 6,200 backpacks for children in need
As soon as the mark was confirmed, the joint effort continued. According to ADRA and the North American Division, the Pathfinders kept filling backpacks until they reached 6,200 units, all filled with school supplies and support items designed for different grade levels.
The backpacks were donated by ADRA and sent to those in need. According to the official sources, part of the distribution stayed in the Gillette region itself, through the community program Blessings in a Backpack and the Salvation Army, organizations that work with children in vulnerable situations. ADRA also reported that backpacks were destined for Guam-Micronesia, a territory that is part of the North American Division in the Pacific.
The result is the kind of effort that Pathfinders value: joining the spirit of achievement — a record to tell about for a lifetime — with a service that leaves a mark beyond the campsite. For the clubs, it is also a practical example of the motto of serving the community, one of the pillars of the movement.
How a Guinness record is set in practice
A world record does not count just because many people took part: there are strict rules. According to the account from the official sources, the attempt was overseen by an official Guinness World Records adjudicator — the professional responsible for verifying, on site, whether all the conditions of the category were met.
In practice, this means counting exactly how many people participated, confirming that each one completed the full task (filling the backpack with the required set of items) and verifying that everything happened simultaneously, within the allotted time. The category set a floor of 250 participants and a window of up to five minutes; with about 255 people finishing within the deadline, the record was ratified during the event itself.
Worth noting for context: Pathfinders have already led record attempts at previous camporees, and the 2024 edition went on to publicize more than one attempt. The backpack effort, however, stood out precisely for combining the collective feat with an immediate social result.
What this has to do with Pathfinders in Brazil
The International Camporee in Gillette is organized by the North American Division, but it speaks directly to the reality of anyone who is a Pathfinder in Brazil. Here, the club belongs to the South American Division (DSA) — the administrative region that brings together eight countries, including Brazil and much of South America —, and the logic is the same: units, honors, drill, camps and the strong call to community service.
The DSA has its own tradition of large gatherings and volunteer service efforts, and ADRA actions in partnership with Pathfinder clubs are common here too — from collection campaigns to projects with local impact. The Gillette record works, in this sense, as an international showcase of something that Brazilian clubs already practice on the scale of their neighborhood and their city.
For the Pathfinder following from afar, the message that crosses borders and divisions remains: the same movement that teaches how to tie knots and pitch a tent also teaches how to look out for the child who needs a backpack to start the school year. In Gillette, both sides appeared in the same gesture.