Raffle "work Around" ?

[OldGreyEagle]

An issue developed in a Council close to where I live. This is what I know, or at least was told

 

The Council Lodge was going to hold a raffle to raise money for Noac. I was told that the Lodge had asked and received assurances from AO National that the raffle was acceptable "as long as" the purchaser of the ticket also got something "else" in this case, a wooden coin. So, for $10 you got a small wooden coin and a raffle ticket.

 

A few days prior to the drawing, the Scout Executive pulled the plug on the operation when it was brought to his attention. A local Not for Profit with a "raffle license" held the event.

 

Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

 

[MissingArrow]

This is iffy because each state has different raffle laws. With what has been presented I would have to agree with the SE decision. He's basically protecting them from liability. Its common for other service organizations or churches who have a license to run raffles/bingo to support other organizations- usually for a fee.

 

If the OA Lodge had done things properly it wouldn't have been a "last minute" change... If you look at the Ten Guides to OA Money Earning Projects (http://www.oa-bsa.org/resources/forms/moneyap.pdf):

 

1) Has your lodge executive committee and Scout Executive approved your project, including the dates and methods?

 

3) Is your plan in harmony with local ordinances, free from any stigma of gambling, and consistent with the ideals and purposes of the Boy Scouts of America and the Order?

 

6) Even when sales are confined to family and friends, will they get their money's worth from

any product they purchase, function they attend, or services they receive from your lodge?

 

Then the Lodge is suppsoed to submit a Money Earning Application to the Council.

 

Seems to me a Raffle that the SE doesn't find out about later is not a good idea...

 

[scoutldr]

Morally, I don't think it's any worse than hawking $5 tins of popcorn for $30.

 

 

[SSScout]

Receiving worth for your payment:::

 

In re "Brewster's Millions", Richard Pryor.

[Scoutmaster Ron]

A raffle to get a wooden coin? isnt that more like a purchase? What was the ticket for?

[John-in-KC]

Today's Blinding Flash of the Obvious moment for youth member Arrowmen:

 

Don't blindside the Supreme Chief of the Fire. He's professionally accountable for your actions.

[OldGreyEagle]

you paid 10 dollars for the wooden coin and received a "Free" raffle ticket which if drawn was worth cash

[Eamonn]

OGE,

The PA rules (Laws) that have to do with small games of chance are very complexed.

Which is my way of saying I don't understand them.

 

I would have thought that the pro who works with the Lodge would have caught this before the SE had to get involved.

To my way of thinking the wooden coin was a "Loop hole"??

To be honest I'm not sure which is worse allowing what might be seen as gambling? Or setting an example where "It's OK, as long as we look for and use the loop hole"?

I think the person who came up with the wooden coin knew that it wasn't worth $10.00 and was just trying to find a way around things while all the time knowing what was being done wasn't entirely kosher.

Still I have attended a lot of Council events (In the Council that puts up with me.) Where ticket are sold, Scouts are present and alcohol is being consumed. (As a rule the adults are not in uniform but the Scouts are.)

Maybe the fact that the Scouts are not selling the tickets and the money is being raised by the Council makes this different? I really don't know.

I'm not much of a gambler.

Truth is that I'm a rotten loser. I hate to lose.

I will buy the odd Super-Ball ticket when the jackpot gets up really high. I try and justify it to myself by telling myself that I'm donating my dollar to help old people. (Yes I know that I'm only trying to kid myself and it doesn't work). However with more and more States seeming to rely on income from gambling, casinos, lotteries and the like. Maybe gambling in no longer seen as being as bad as it once was?

OJ, when he turned 18 was spending some of his hard earned cash on instant lottery tickets. I have no idea how much he spent, lost or won. For him it was a big thing that once he turned 18 that he could play /gamble.

Here in PA we have a cute furry little Groundhog "Phil,the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania" Selling these instant tickets. We are in some kind of race with West Virginia to get more and more people into our casinos and are selling the idea of allowing more casinos to open as a way of reducing the tax burden on our elderly population.

With all this going on I can see how some young people can get a little confused and see the selling of a $10.00 ticket as doing the same as their State Leaders are doing.

Eamonn.

[Gold Winger]

I guess he's not famous enough, Phil is the weather prognosticator, Gus is the lottery guy.

[OldGreyEagle]

Tell you what Eamonn, once the BethWorks Casino gets built on the grave of the old Bethlehem Steel Plant, perhaps we could attend a Celtic Fest, slip a quarter down a slot machine and have a few root beers and talk about scouting. If we are lucky my sister-in-law (and a good ol' Owl too) and her husband (they live in Prestwick, Scotland) will be around. Billy (her husband) usually needs an interpreter