How to handle collection type Eagle projects

[NJCubScouter]

There's no reference to leadership in this statement and any service project done by the Eagle Candidate is okay. What people have made it out to be is a lot more than "just a service project". As a matter of fact' date=' doing the project all by yourself is okay as long as it is beneficial to the organization.[/quote']

 

There isn't, but what dcsimmons was quoting was the requirement from the late 60's, not the requirement of today, which in all its legalistic and bureaucratic glory, is:

 

While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement. (To learn more about the Eagle Scout service project, see the Guide to Advancement, topics 9.0.2.0 through 9.0.2.15.)

 

So when you say "doing the project all by yourself is okay as long as it is beneficial to the organization," that should not be in the present tense. It WAS okay. Now (as I am sure you already know) you must "give leadership to others." (And a bunch of paperwork and other stuff, not to mention the actual project.)

[JasonG172]

This is why I would never want to sit in on an EBOR.

 

 

This sums in up nicely!

[Stosh]

 

There isn't, but what dcsimmons was quoting was the requirement from the late 60's, not the requirement of today, which in all its legalistic and bureaucratic glory, is:

 

 

 

So when you say "doing the project all by yourself is okay as long as it is beneficial to the organization," that should not be in the present tense. It WAS okay. Now (as I am sure you already know) you must "give leadership to others." (And a bunch of paperwork and other stuff, not to mention the actual project.)

 

Yes, the original intent is far more beneficial to the boy than today's bureaucracy process. I have my boys involved in the 1960's EP on a regular basis so that when the bloated one comes along they can figure out how to do the fine print. To-date, I have never read a candidates proposal. I just sign it and off he goes. He's done enough of them that I don't worry about the paperwork one. I even let him repeat one he's already done if it was sufficient to warrant an Eagle Project level activity in the first place. Some of them are. I just make sure they pick one that meets the modern standards of showing leadership and jumping through hoops.

 

Stosh

[Twocubdad]

CM Mike's OP (you remember the OP, don't you?) was about collection-type projects.

 

For a long time our council discouraged and usually denied collection projects. It took a lot to sell the EP review committee on them. The rule of thumb was to get approved, a collection project needed to look like a small manufacturing operation. Unmanned collection bins didn't cut it. I know a few projects approved on the basis of building the bins, but they were eventually frowned on as the bulk of the work went toward build single-use bins which weren't terribly useful to the beneficiary organization past the single collection drive. (I suppose if Goodwill wanted a number of bins built which they would use over and again, that would have been okay.)

 

The council has loosened its outright ban on collections, but there are certain criteria which needs to be met: Simply putting out unmanned bins and emptying them occasionally still isn't going to be accepted. There must be some process involved which requires organization and leadership. For example, a coat drive would be acceptable if it included a process where the Scout organized the cleaning, inspection, repair, sizing and distribution of the coats. Emptying bins and dropping off garbage bags of coats at the homeless shelter won't cut it. One of my Scouts recently completed a book drive which included outfitting a reading room at a community center with bookshelves and collecting books to stock them. Building the shelves would have probably been an acceptable project without the book drive. The shelves and collection together made for a very substantial project.