Free Birdie

Thanks for your information and suggestions, Unc and Eamonn. I have already been asked if I wanted a position within the Pack...I'm guessing it was because of my mature age (45) compared to some of the other cub scout parents, LOL. I turned it down for now, since I'm involved with quite a few other benevolent orgs. currently. I might volunteer to be a Den Leader for my youngest son when he can be a Tiger in 2 years. I did volunteer for the 3 day summer camp and got a good initiation for having SO many young scouts all in one place!

Eamonn, Thanks for explaining some of the council's expendentures. I was aware that the people who are employed by the scouts need to have funds for their salaries and benefits, however I had forgotten about the large camp that the council owns and operate. My son's summer day camp was not held there, but at the county fairgrounds. The FOS visit must have been one of the meetings that my son was with his dad, and hence we did not attend. I never heard any mention of this last year and was not asked to contribute to an FOS fund. There are only 4 scouts in his den, so not sure if someone forgot to ask me or what. I had thought it was mainly businesses who contribute to the FOS. Since the scouts are a non-profit 501©(3)corp., is there any way a parent can ask to see the financial records of the council? I do not believe there is any unethical conduct with the spending of monies, I am just curious to know what their budget is and what costs are incurred from our Pack. I would like to know this before I make a contribution to the council. It seems to me that the younger cub scouts may not be reaping as many of the benefits from the council... because of their ages there are restrictions on what they are allowed to do, such as not being able to attend the council's large scout camp in the mountains, etc. There's never any guaranttee of boys wanting to remain in the scouts to eventually reap more of these benefits.

Scoutnut, Thanks for responding to my post. I will try to answer all of your questions, even though you might have meant for them to be rhetorical. These are what I have had to pay for: Since this is the first year my son has worn the blue shirt..I had to buy all the patches for his shirt, except the Tiger, Wolf and Quality Unit patch. He did receive a patch for the summer day camp, but I thought it was part of the registration fee I paid. I haven't seen any of the boys with a red vest for their patches, so I assume if I wanted my son to have one, I would be required to purchase it. I did see the vest in the Scout mini-store, so maybe the boys keep them at home? I haven't seen decorations used at the Pack meetings; our Den has never discussed it. Snacks are not furnished at Pack meetings, but each Den takes a turn providing baked goods that are raffled off at each Pack meeting...to be taken home and consumed later. Blue and Gold Celebration is family potluck. Each family contributes what is served. No outside catering..the gym is used. We do not have paid speakers or entertainers at the Pack meetings. The Cub Scouts do their own skits. To my knowledge, the few family activities our Pack did together, the admission prices for myself and my son were reduced by the business and not suplimented through the Pack. I did purchase my son's Wolf handbook, as well as his Boy's Life subscription. The Tiger den meetings were held at the Scouts' home on a rotating basis, so each family provided papers, crayons, and any other supplies, as well as providing snacks and drinks. This year we are holding our meetings in the school gym and have not used any supplies yet, I suppose we will be asked to bring our own supplies when needed. The sponsorship fee for the Pack consists of a $75 fee that is paid by the school's PTO. I assumed that went to the council. I know the Pack purchased the plastic beads for Tiger totem and also think they purchased the totem. He has yet to be issued or told to buy a Wolf totem. The Pack purchased his scarf. The pinewood derby car was wrapped in Christmas paper and given to my son by his Tiger Den Leader last year; either he paid for it out of his own pocket, or the Pack purchased it. The pinewood derby is a rather sore subject with me. My son's dad (divorced) refuses to take my son to any scout meeting or events so I already knew he would not be going to the derby. It's a shame too, his dad has a constuction co. and has restored several cars from the ground up. With all the talent, knowledge and tools that his dad has, he could have helped our son build a fine derby car. So...since I wasn't at the derby, I don't know about the derby track...I assume the Pack paid for any tracks. I don't know if part of my son's registration fee at the beginning of the year is for nationals. Holiday treats..I can't answer that one either. That Pack meeting was held on a Friday weekend my son was with his dad, so I'm not sure what they did. Good questions, Scoutnut...my son's den meetings are held on nights that my son is consistantly with me, but the Pack meetings do not always fall on the nights he is, so unfortunately he missed several. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy supporting the scouts, just don't like the idea of popcorn sales for 7 year olds. I don't have any problem writing a check out, but I think it would behoove me to get a better handle of the financial dealings within the Pack.

This is only my son's 2nd year of Cub Scouts (2nd grade), and I decided I was not going to go around the neighborhood with my 7 year old this year and hawk popcorn. I did this last year and people did not respond favorably to yet another fundraiser from a child...after all it is JUST popcorn and IMHO there isn't anything special about it. I am bringing a check for the Pack for $100 to the next meeting instead. If he was older, I would suggest that they should somehow WORK for their money. The neighbors are so sick of ordering from these type of fundraisers, and they have to help their own children with their fundraisers. Our Pack apparently really gets into the popcorn sales and that's fine. They do the incentive prizes and I have no idea how much money they send into the Council. I haven't seen anything come back to the boys in terms of equipment and supplies...not yet anyway. The school's PTO pays the sponsorship fee for the Pack, and so I'm not sure what the scouts are getting in return for popcorn sales effort. Scouts had to pay for their own day camps last summer. My son's public school has a policy that does not allow the kids to be involved in door to door sales. All funds are raised through the school's PTO through fundraising events. I love that policy and I would refuse to allow him to do any type of fundraisers if they did not have that policy in effect. Same thing....I would rather write a check out. It would be different if he were older than the ages of elementary school and did some physical work to raise money instead of hawking overpriced popcorn. JMHO