Have to ask why.

[Krampus]

You should see the new Dinning hall   if you like air conditioning.  Thanks Kia Kima is near and dear to my heart

We will have to talk via PM. We have done Orr and Pioneer to the west. The boys saw Kia Kima on Facebook and thought it might be fun. Trying to see if we can work a camp out there during a long weekend some time in the future to check it out. Looks nice!!

 

 

We have been doing SFF ever since it began.  I was not aware it was not a National endeavor.  I can tell you that the drop off locations are truly appreciative every year.  Have fliers we will be handing out in neighborhoods very soon.  

 

We have been doing SFF since 2004 and even earlier where I live, which is right in the heart of national. It is a HUGE deal here. Local food banks rely on SFF for over 50% of their annual donations!!! With local stats showing donations to food banks down over the last 7 years, SFF is hugely important to our area.

 

Our council mucked it up last year by going to paper bags and a one day "knock and collect" rather than the old method of week 1 distributing plastic bags, then week 2 knocking and collecting. This was done because of someone at council thinking that just because the city went to a "no plastic bag" policy that meant WE had to as well. Silly decision. Donations were down 60% from the year before.

 

My unit had re-useable plastic bags (think shopping bags) made from recycled plastic done up ($1000 donation from a parent) which we distributed on week 1, then picked up week 2. We did not participate on the council dates because they conflicted with our camp out. For some reason council ALWAYS does SFF on the best camping weekend. Nevertheless, our unit DOUBLED our best annual haul for SFF with our method. Donations went to the CO's food bank (second largest in our area). We are doing the same thing this year!

Edited January 28, 2016 by Krampus

[John-in-KC]

Nearly twenty years ago,

 

Every Council, Nationwide, on two weekends did Scouting for Food.

Weekend 1:  Distribute the Bags.

Weekend 2:  Pick them up.

 

It got publicity.  Network news, local news, all over the place coverage.

 

Councils still do it, and are successful at it, yes.  It's a local project.  You may/may not get publicity in your market.

 

BSA is not getting nationwide publicity.  That's my point.

[Krampus]

Nearly twenty years ago,

 

Every Council, Nationwide, on two weekends did Scouting for Food.

Weekend 1:  Distribute the Bags.

Weekend 2:  Pick them up.

 

It got publicity.  Network news, local news, all over the place coverage.

 

Councils still do it, and are successful at it, yes.  It's a local project.  You may/may not get publicity in your market.

 

BSA is not getting nationwide publicity.  That's my point.

Interesting. Seems BSA's ambivalence continues. They still talk like it is a national program in some areas of BSA, yet the website seems to infer that it is a council (local) effort.

[JasonG172]

We will have to talk via PM. We have done Orr and Pioneer to the west. The boys saw Kia Kima on Facebook and thought it might be fun. Trying to see if we can work a camp out there during a long weekend some time in the future to check it out. Looks nice!!

 

Anytime,

 

there is also Old Kia Kima right next to it.  I'll get you whatever information you need.

Edited January 28, 2016 by JasonG172

[Eagle94-A1]

In regards to popcorn, after being a DE, I tired of it rather quickly. had a unit do popcorn sales, pay for it, then folded. I was unable to get in contact with anyone affiliated with the pack, and trust me I tried. All I wanted was the order sheets so I could get the popcorn delivered to those who bought it.  Sadly, I ended up eating the pocorn for a long time.

[Rick_in_CA]

We have been doing SFF since 2004 and even earlier where I live, which is right in the heart of national. It is a HUGE deal here. Local food banks rely on SFF for over 50% of their annual donations!!! With local stats showing donations to food banks down over the last 7 years, SFF is hugely important to our area.

My council still does it, even though it doesn't actually help the local food banks much. A couple of years ago, I did one of the SFF drop offs for my pack, and asked the food bank rep about it. He said that SFF actually cost the food bank money (i.e., the food bank would be better off if the council dropped SFF). They didn't say anything because they were afraid it would be a PR disaster if they said no. He also said that he believed that SFF generated indirect benefits for the food bank through free PR.

 

I have always been conflicted by SFF. I know it is actually counter productive for the food banks, but it can be a good experience for the scouts (and holding a simple fundraiser for the food bank is against BSA rules - no fundraising for other organizations).

[SSScout]

Rick:  Around NCAC, the SFF in MD  supplies at least HALF of the total supply for the local foodbank.  They tout it, BSA touts it, local TV time...  November it happens.  Our local Safeway parking lot has a semi trailer parked on the subject saturday and it gets FULL.   OA loads it, Troops bring in the bags....

[Rick_in_CA]

Rick:  Around NCAC, the SFF in MD  supplies at least HALF of the total supply for the local foodbank.  They tout it, BSA touts it, local TV time...  November it happens.  Our local Safeway parking lot has a semi trailer parked on the subject saturday and it gets FULL.   OA loads it, Troops bring in the bags....

I'm glad you guys make it work. It actually sounds like a great experience for your scouts!

 

However, my understanding is that for a lot of food banks it is counter productive (though few will publicly admit it - most just smile and eat the costs). The Slate article I linked to above lays out the whys. Here are a couple more:

 

Hays County Food Bank

Believe it or not, food drives actually cost food banks money. The North Texas Food Bank estimates that a food drive can cost as much as $100 after the prices of fuel, vehicle maintenance, materials like boxes, and staff time are factored in.

 

LA Times Article.

 

I'm sure you can find more via Google.

[Krampus]

I'm glad you guys make it work. It actually sounds like a great experience for your scouts!

 

However, my understanding is that for a lot of food banks it is counter productive (though few will publicly admit it - most just smile and eat the costs). The Slate article I linked to above lays out the whys. Here are a couple more:

 

Hays County Food Bank

 

LA Times Article.

 

I'm sure you can find more via Google.

 

I am familair (very familiar) with the NTX Food Bank. That comment is taken out of context. They were talking about their OWN food drives, not when donations come in. They frequently take in food from many sources. Many churches, mosques and temples (yes we have them in Texas, many of them) have their own drives and then donate to the NTX bank. Most of the food going in to the NTX bank comes from SFF. In fact, our council works with them to have units volunteer time to triage the incoming food so as to reduce staff time to managed the inflow. A good friend is on the board of the NTXX bank and knows first hand how much this program takes in. The last three years, had SFF not donated their take, the NTX bank would not have had enough food to meet their (ever-growing) goals.

 

SIDE NOTE: Last year the mayor of Dallas implemented a single-use bag ban. SFF was usually done with yellow, recycled bags. BSA in our areas switched to paper bags. Disaster! Donations were down 45% as a result. Our unit printed up our own bags (think reusable shopping bags from recycled material) and did SFF. Biggest haul we ever had!! 

 

Hays County is a different story. It is in SW Austin, so it is not as metropolitan as other areas.I could see where poorly organized rural drives would cost a food bank more than they take in.

[yastreb]

The Girl Scouts have been selling cookies all over the place here lately. I guess I never paid attention to their prices, but after our troop started to try to sell popcorn last year $4 a box sounds great! We started selling popcorn in the fall and did horribly. I think many others can attest to this, but when a customer is eager to buy popcorn and donate to the scouts, hearing the price actually makes them physically recoil. Most end up walking away, but some would rather their $20 bill go in the donation bucket. We actually made enough donations to pay off the popcorn, now half our inventory of popcorn is in the trunk of my car. We'll be eating some at the next troop meeting, then sell some more when it gets warmer.

 

The Girl Scouts are famous for their cookies, if the BSA publicized the popcorn as heavily, I am sure the Boy Scouts would become infamous.

[Stosh]

One of the reasons the GS/USA has been able to keep their prices low is the fact that the quality and quantity of the product has gone downhill.  I remember the thin mints actually having a white filling like mint layer between the chocolate and the cookie.  And what people don't realize is that the caramel coconut cookies (they go by many names) actually cost more than 25-cents per cookie!  Of course none of that has stopped me from buying the cookies.

 

The "Pigtail Mafia" has learned the secrets of marketing very well. 

[Krampus]

Haven't bought for years. No one has around to sell them. Since they've increased price and reduced size, they go into my "not buying them anymore" bucket. Any product that has done that doesn't get my money...like the Brewers that have gone to 10oz cans or 11.2oz bottles; cheat me, I stop buying your product.

[Sentinel947]

Haven't bought for years. No one has around to sell them. Since they've increased price and reduced size, they go into my "not buying them anymore" bucket. Any product that has done that doesn't get my money...like the Brewers that have gone to 10oz cans or 11.2oz bottles; cheat me, I stop buying your product.

Potato Chips and Cereal are the worst. Half the bag is air!!!!

[qwazse]

Potato Chips and Cereal are the worst. Half the bag is air!!!!

Peanut butter jars with the massive indentation at the bottom.

[Eagledad]

In the last year, I bought about $100 worth of popcorn from the Boy Scouts and $100 of cookies from the Girl Scouts. I give the popcorn back to the scouts so they could double their sales, although this year I heard they donated it to the Military Service Men and Women. Pretty cool really. I give away just about all our cookies to our adult kids. OK, my wife hides one box of Thin Mints in the freezer.

 

I admit that I wouldn't be as likely to spend as much money on the Girl Scouts if the little girls weren't so darn cute. Kind of the same reason Cubs can sell a lot more Popcorn in person than the Boy Scouts. Same goes with Scouting for food, the Cubs are just better.

 

We have not seen Campfire around here in a while, are they still selling candy? That candy is sooooo good, we give it tour kids of course, but one box is always sacrificed to the freezer god. 

 

By the way, unless things have changed, the BSA units got 40% profit while the Girl Scout units got somewhere around 10%.

 

Barry