Scouting for Food Lack of Support Rant

[Greg Nelson]

OK, just let me vent.

 

Our Cubmaster asked one of the dads in my Tiger Cub den to organize the Scouting for Food drive for our neighborhood. He did a great job of putting out flyers, placing an announcement in the school newsletter, and telling all the Scouts and their parents about the drive at our last pack meeting.

 

Well, when today rolls around, I drive over to the school with my Tiger Cub and see - that dad and his wife and kids. NO ONE else from the pack is there. A bit later, our Cubmaster shows up and agrees to hit a couple of streets with his boy. The Wolf den leader shows up with her son, and a Webelos mom has three of them in tow.

 

That's it. Sum total of Scouts showing up - 2 Tiger Cubs, 1 Wolf, 1 Bear, and 3 Webelos. We "did our best", and worked for several hours, but there are limits to how much work you can expect Tigers to do. There were many streets that went uncovered, because we had so many AWOL Scouts. When Scouts don't show up, the work doesn't go away - it just makes the burden harder on those who ARE there.

 

The whole scene makes me want to take a hike with my (small) den and hook up with a larger, more active pack at a nearby church. My Tiger Cub dad who organized the drive is thinking the same thing. Why should we bust our rears for a group that just wants to take, take, take, but never give anything back?

 

For example, out of the 13 Bears who were at Pinewood Derby last month, ONE showed up today. NONE of them even had the courtesy to let us know they couldn't be there - they just stiffed us. These boys and their parents couldn't be bothered to help with the food drive, but you can be d*** sure they'll all be there next week at our Blue and Gold banquet, ready to pick up their sons' badges. How do I keep from busting an artery when those moms are up there smiling and beaming about what a good Scout "Johnny" is?

[scoutldr]

Venting noted. Trying to troubleshoot a little here...scouts and parents were notified at last Pack meeting. If your B&G is next week, that means the last Pack meeting was a month ago. Was there any effort to call all the Den Leaders a couple of days before and remind them of their Den's obligation? I have the same frustrations. It seems like people today are ALL in need of a dose of Ritalin and don't remember things from one week to the next. When I was conducting training classes, 30 people would register and then 5 would show up...no call, no nothing. There is no sense of responsibility or commitment...like their kids, they are living life in one hour increments and if something better comes along, they're off in a different direction. Too bad that we can't require service hours for Cubs like we do Boy Scouts. No service, no Bear badge. A novel concept.

[SemperParatus]

That's too bad.

 

Now that its over and you can't do anything about it...start planning for next year to make sure this doesn't happen again.

 

Here are some ideas:

 

1. At the upcoming B&G, recognize those scouts and parents that participated...profusely. Certainly, they each deserve a special patch and the dad organizer should get a special award. Maybe, right in the middle of the presentation, someone comes forward with a very special treat (cake, ice cream floats) just for the participants to share. Those that have scouted for food shall be rewarded with food. Everybody that did not attend...soooorrrryyyy.

 

2. It sounds like the Tiger den leader put in some time and effort, but you don't mention any follow-up with the den leaders. The week before the bags are distributed, and the week before the bags are collected, the organizer should contact each of the den leaders and remind them to contact each of their scouts to remind them when and where to meet.

 

3. Sometimes, one announcement just doesn't cut it. Multiple communications are necessary to make sure that the message hits home. Follow-up the pack meeting announcement with (i) flyers for each family, (ii) e-mails to the pack members, (iii) article in the pack newsletter, (iv) reminder calls to den leaders.

 

4. Consider a little competition...either between the dens or against the prior year tonnage, just to add some interest.

 

5. Kick off the campaign at Pinewood, with a registration fee of one canned food per car. this puts the upcoming SFF drive into folk's minds.

 

6. Sometimes, the webelos start to lose interest by the fourth year. To counteract, maybe start a patch program with segments for each year of participation. Those earning five year segments get something special.

 

7. Make sure that the boys get to see the central collection area for your district and maybe help out for some time there as well. It is very impressive as the collections come in and the food mounts up. Plus, its fun lugging the boxes around.

 

8. I would suspect that your Council may have a promotional video. If so, get it and show it at a fall/winter pack meeting.

 

9. I have toyed with the idea of a feast or famine event to develop interest and help people understand what it may be like to go hungry. I have never pulled the trigger, because our committee thinks it may upset certain folks. I think it could be neat.

 

10. It is a shame that your CM did not give this the attention it deserved. In the future, he really needs to show more interest in the event and the outcome.

 

Good luck to you.

[Greg Nelson]

We went over our expectations for the event at our committee meeting just 6 days ago, where all the den leaders were present. Granted, it may have been forgotten in the subsequent battle royale over Blue and Gold details. Still, the den leaders were well aware. Heck, some of them were just about the only ones who showed.

 

The patch award is a good idea - I'll run that by my CM. He's a pretty mellow guy, though, so he might not want to make kids feel bad by being left out. My Cubmaster put as much time and effort into this as he could be expected to - he can't get out his shotgun and force kids to get out of bed and help the pack.

 

I've seen this kind of behavior from one or two of the den leaders before. All hat, no cattle. So I was disappointed, but not that surprised. The extent of the disinterest was disheartening, though. The guy organizing this really put a lot of time and work into this, even though his kid is getting his tonsils out next week. I'm sure he's more irked than I am, and I doubt he'll be very interested in helping out on something like this in the future.

 

Thanks for the suggestions for next year.

[ScoutNut]

Service projects take a LOT of time & effort at the Pack level. The Den Leaders really have to push & remind their parents & even then many will forget.

 

My Pack leaves "Scouting For Food" to the Boy Scout Troops. We do something FUN instead. We HAUNT For Food!

 

In Oct the Pack puts together a Haunted House. Each Den gets to decorate & haunt their own area. Parents & siblings are encouraged to join in. Our admission price is canned food, paper products, toiletries, etc for the local Food Pantry. We also have a bake sale so the people in line can have a snack to munch on, with the proceeds going to the Food Pantry as well.

 

We usually have 100% participation, or pretty near to it. The families do a LOT of work, but have a great time. Best of all, at the end of the night we have a nice contribution for the Food Pantry!

 

 

[Greg Nelson]

How is it that these parents don't "forget" when Pinewood Derby is, or when we go bowling?

 

I just have to accept that I did all I could as a den leader. I showed up, drove my boys to their limits, and even stopped by our missing Tiger's house and let the others coax him into participating, at least on his own street, over his dad's wishes (GRRR!)

 

It's kinda like being mad at the driver who cut you off, when that guy doesn't even know who you are. These no-show parents don't even realize how much they hosed the poor kids who turned out for this. They couldn't think beyond, "Johnny doesn't like to get up before noon on Saturday."

 

Our den has opening for next month's pack meeting. I'm thinking of writing one with the kids pitching a tent or something, while one kid after another quits on the job, leaving one kid to do the whole thing. Problem is, the message would just sail over the intendeds' heads.

 

It's just making me angry, thinking about all the people who will be so proud of their boys with their Arrows of Light (3 out of 13 showed) or Bear Badges (1 out of 13 showed). Should our pack be proud of anything when 3/4th of them can't show up for one blessed hour to help with a food drive that we have committed to? How do I let it go?(This message has been edited by Greg Nelson)

[scoutldr]

Good points, Greg. I know you are angry, but as my former office mate used to tell me..."without them, we'd just be average". The patch is a great idea, and if you have time, I would visit the Council service center and see what they have in stock and buy them myself and pass them out. If the CM doesn't want to, then do it yourself along with the dad who organized it. There are generic SFF patches in the catalog and your council may well have them sitting on the shelf. You also need to recognize the dad who organized it. Perhaps you could pass the hat at the BG banquet for donations to go to the Food Bank "for those who could not join us on SFF day".

[Katydid]

Greg, NOw the first thing you have to do is recite the Peace Prayer several times. I do this every night when I help my children with their homework and it really helps.

 

My second thing is a suggestion for next year. I went to the grocery store last week and sitting out front was a Cub Scout Pack collecting food. They were passing out flyers at the entrance and collecting food at the exit. They said they worked one weekend the Girl Scouts worked one weekend and the Boy Scouts another. On their second day the Cubs were at 800 packages of food.

 

Sounds like a lot less walking

[Greg Nelson]

Yeah, now that I've had a good night's sleep and a relaxing Sunday morning, I've been able to let it go. I just need to focus on what I can control, and that I have a good set of kids in my den and and least one parent who's willing to help with the load.

 

 

[anarchist]

Next year use your co-ordinator, but put attendance on the Dl's...

Email and fliers are good but have the DL's hand around a signup sheet at every Den Meeting before the 'hit the pavement' day...then have the DL's assign your routes to each parent or team of parents...have hi-lited maps ready for hand out the week before and the morning of the pick-up (many will misplace). Then quick call by DL the night before as a reminder will lock them in...out troop uses this 'system' and it works! Some times you just have to hit them between the eyes to get them to pay attention...

[cajuncody]

I feel your pain. Our outgoing CM told the pack when I announced the SFF dates that he didn't consider it important. We had 4 boys participate and collected less than 400 items. I plan to present patches for those boys at the next meeting. I did that for the Veterans day Parade also. I can't pull teeth to get them there but I can give them something to regret missing.

kristi

[arichardson71]

Greg, I know how you feel, trust me I do, but don't get dishearted. As a Cubmaster for our pack I am still in a learning phase and I am considering this year as the trail and error, or practice year. What I learn this year about what to do and what not to do will help me for the following year.

 

As a pack with only 30 boys we had about 1/3 participation for SFF this year, even though I promoted, promoted and promoted this event with everything from flyers, calls and the back pack system at school. Just realize that some people will not show when there is "work" involved but will be 1st in line when it is time to have fun. My suggestion, by learning myself, lets make this a fun experience for the boys that show up!

 

Even though only 10 boys showed to collect the food on Saturday our pack came in 2nd place of all the packs in the district with the number of pounds we collected for SFF. (our district doesn't count items, only poundage) I am going to do something special for the boys that participated just to show my appreciation.

 

I feel like if you get the boys fired up enough about doing something they will drag the parents along. Work on the boys, not the parents!!!

 

Just some trial and error advice for next year.

 

YIS

Andy(This message has been edited by arichardson71)