Scouts as Laborers

[Lisabob]

Well OK then! Sorry if I mistook your example of absurdity for seriousness...online communication makes things hard to "read" for tone sometimes. I used to clean stalls for a guy with race horses too - cart horses mostly. They were without doubt the most surly creatures I'd ever met and the guy himself was pretty much the same. Years later I was lucky enough to own an off-the-track thoroughbred with the sweetest personality though (except at dinner time!).

 

Anyway yes, it sounds like we agree - keep scouts out of these sorts of arrangements.

 

 

[local1400]

TOMY (troop of my youth) often did cleanup work following various events in town. A local service club held an auction each summer of donated household stuff, i.e. junk, at their property. That organization was also CO for the other troop in town. The other troop had no interest in spending two days a year picking up garbage so we would always get the call and go. We earned $$ for the troop and free lunch at a local pizza shop!

[Chippewa29]

I love the idea of Scouts doing actual work to earn the money for a Scout trip. I spent many summer hours mowing lawns, cleaning out gutters, babysitting, and doing other types of jobs for people in the community. I even had one woman who paid me to rebuild the retaining wall on the lake at the edge of her yard. Not being smart enough, I hauled those heavy bricks around without gloves and rubbed my finger prints off (they of course grew back in a few weeks).

 

I went to two National Jamborees and one World Jamboree by doing this. I think it was a big part of my development to put in this "back breaking" work and actually earn the money myself. As long as things are safe, I think its great for Scouts to band together as a temporary workforce and do some work together. You never know where it might lead.

 

A guy I went to school with was in another troop. To earn money for trips, he started mowing lawns in his neighborhood. These days, he owns a very successful lawn and landscaping service.