2nd class service project

[GKlose]

I'm very proud of my young Tenderfoot, so I'd like to share this story...

 

He was getting pretty antsy to work on requirements for 2nd class, and rather than wait for a troop-wide service project in which to put some service time, he decided to show some initiative.

 

So he decided that since it is "back to school time" why not collect school supplies and donate them to someone? With a little help from his mom, he sent out an email note to our neighborhood email list and to a pile of other friends, and putting flyers in neighborhood mailboxes, asking that when they do their back to school shopping, please consider buying a little extra and donating them. He offered to pick up whatever they bought, or else he'd leave a box on our front porch. He also sent out a reminder, and then a blanket note as a sort of thank you and mention that he was ending his collection. Also, with his mom's help, they identified a local shelter that has an after-school program, and they are going to be more than happy to accept the donated school supplies.

 

The response was really quite overwhelming -- I'd guess at least 20 families (some anonymous) donated a ton of stuff. He's been tracking the numbers, but pretty much everything has been donated: pencils, pens, markers, crayons, folders, binders, paper, spiral notebooks, glue sticks, and on and on. I think he's got three large boxes filled at the moment, and he still has a couple of people who were on vacation that still want to donate.

 

He's kind of dreading the last part -- after talking with us, he realizes that sending out thank-you notes would be a nice thing to do, and he's not really all that excited about writing out more than 15 notes. But he is very thankful that so many people would donate so much stuff. He's going to drop off those boxes a little later this week.

 

I think this has turned into a really great service project -- when he finally tells his patrol leader and his scoutmaster how it went (the SM pre-approved the project), I'm sure they'll be very surprised too.

[John-in-KC]

He didn't have to design and implement a project. He only had to participate for one hour in someone else's project.

 

Good prepatory work against a day in the future though...

[Stosh]

Hmmm, if he keeps this up each year, he's probably got his Eagle Project already half done.

 

Congrats for having a son with such compassion for others.

 

Stosh

[GKlose]

Thanks, guys...

 

In fact, I kept cautioning his mom (they're all home for the summer, while I'm stuck at work) that this isn't a mini-Eagle project, that he only needed to spend an hour working on some project. But this is the kind of thing he does -- he gets his mind set on what to do (sometimes to his detriment), and then does it.

 

The only part that seems like an overload is the thank you notes. On the other hand, that's really the proper thing to do. So while he'll have way more than an hour invested by the end, I think it will be done well, with only a little help from mom (she called the shelter, she edited his email and flyer, and she'll drive him over for dropoff -- she also drove him over to Staples for they're free, $0.05 and $0.25 specials, to load up).

 

The part I've liked best is that he didn't want to wait for a troop service project, that he had some time now, and he wanted to go ahead and do something. I also like that he didn't just put in minimal effort to get the hour done.

 

It's likely he'll be 1st class by a year from now, so maybe he can repeat it (perhaps engaging the rest of the troop) for next fall

 

Guy(This message has been edited by GKlose)

[GKlose]

BTW, he's also already decided what he wants to do for an Eagle project. Despite the risk of squashing his ideas, I've cautioned that he has a lot to do before he gets to that stage. I also didn't want to burst his bubble by saying that his idea probably wouldn't fly for an Eagle project (he wants to clean up the local scout camp, which is in really poor condition).

[raisinemright]

That's cool and congratulations to your son. Mine is also 2nd class and really seems to enjoy serving. I'll be he's got 50 hours of service time in this year.

 

Our (newer) troops first Eagle candidate just completed his project last week. It was far bigger than he'd anticipated. He built a sand volleyball court. I spent 8-10 hours driving a skid steer and I think my son went to the jobsite at least five times and helped move dirt and sand. I was very proud of his desire to help. My Webelo also spent a couple days helping out too.

 

Even though the service doesn't really count for rank, it goes far toward instituting a lifetime of service toward others.

[GKlose]

This is an aside, but...

 

Before I read about the "Methods of Scouting" I always thought of scouting as a youth group focusing on building leadership skills, fostering the development of outdoor skills, environmental consciousness and community service. In other words, a primary part being community service. I felt that's how things were treated when I was a scout.

 

Fast forward many years, and my family and I sign up for a townwide cleanup day. I notice that maybe a hundred people out of our town of 30k are participating. I figure with some advanced planning I could get at least a hundred cubs and scouts and parents out. So I started about six months in advance. I get the names of all BSA unit leaders in town (4 troops, 3 packs) and a name for a Girl Scout admin (she wouldn't share unit leader email addresses with me because of "the privacy issue").

 

I contacted everyone, telling them of our experience the prior year, and how easy it was to participate. Show up, get supplies, drive to a place and pick up trash. Talked it over with every unit leader I met while I was taking my Webelos son around to visit scout troops. Every one of them agreed it sounded like a good service project. Sent reminders. Sent more persistent reminders to adults in my sons' pack, offering to lead a group.

 

The net result out of all that? Mostly crickets chirping. Gained a net of four adults, and maybe five children (no teens, no tweens). No response whatsoever from every troop or pack except in our own pack. Had a small handful of no-shows from my own pack (this is a pack with about 50 families, I'd guess). No response from Webelos son's new troop (this was all happening as he was transitioning). Zero response from any Girl Scout unit. I didn't even find out if the admin I traded email with even contacted local units.

 

I found the process to be very discouraging. The cynical side of me thinks that most troops feel that participating in their troop's Eagle candidate projects and Scouting for Food is enough community service time for the year, and that most packs don't do anything about community service because, hey, where do you see anything about that in Tiger/Wolf/Bear/Webelos rank requirements?

 

So, what am I gonna do? I'm going to try again next year

 

I'm funny like that.

 

(actually, I'd appreciate any suggestions...maybe it was my mishandling that went awry)

[John-in-KC]

From where I've sat, service projects need to be a combination of rewarding, fun, and fed.

 

We're working to set the ethic of service, not expecting it to arrive, HUZZAH!

 

Units in my area do a lot of "bikes and trikes for tykes", rebuilding bicycles and tricycles for re-use by another generation. They find that fun, they find it rewarding.

 

They find the pizza party we tend to do after it enjoyable as well

[croushorn]

Troop and Pack calendars fill up quickly. There is a thing such as too many activities on a calendar, there may be a big event the weekend before or after yours; that may be a big football, soccer, baseball weekend. Certain times of the year there's just too much going on to fit in any more. Too full of a calendar will burn out parents pretty fast - they still need time to meet other non-Scouting commitments. Try and find out these things when you visit the unit committees to get a commitment to make it an official event. If they decline, then at least ask them to allow you to promote the event through their pack/troop meetings. Is there an ability to move your event if that is the case?

[evmori]

Ya got a good Scout there GKlose!

[GKlose]

Thanks, Ed...isn't that 11-yr-old newbie scout attitude infectious?

 

Snoring Bear -- the event I was talking about is a townwide cleanup day organized by the town's recycling/solid waste committee. They work on getting tons of donations, such as food, garbage bags, tools, gloves, reflective vests and giant dumpsters, while the rest of us volunteers just show up and provide labor. Last year, it was held on a Saturday closest to Earth Day. But that also coincided with spring break (families were traveling). This year, the date was moved to the first weekend in May. It would be quite a bother to try and get them to move it, once they've set their date.

 

But you're right -- there are always going to be family conflicts, especially with organized sports on Saturday mornings.

 

Guy(This message has been edited by GKlose)

[Gunny2862]

We do service projects, in our family, as a matter of course. I find it hard to believe that Scouts can go six months without getting service hours in.

 

My son did six hours the Saturday after his CoH presentation to 2nd class and will certainly have 15-60 more before he is ready for first. Not because we make him but because he still see's it as fun. Now if I can get his internal mindset across to the other Scouts...

[GKlose]

It's not like I grew up in a family where we were really socially-conscious (and I've met a handful in the last few years that are), but both my mom and dad did have public service projects, and my siblings and I would also participate. Service projects were also a regular part of my scouting, and not just helping with Eagle projects.

 

Anyway, as a followup to my original story: my Tenderfoot finished his project yesterday. All told, he had gathered approximately $200 worth of school supplies from about 20 families, give or take. His mom drove him over to the local shelter, where the supplies seem to be much appreciated (two smaller boxes, and then their eyes lit up when he came back in carrying the two larger boxes). After getting home, he started in on thank you notes -- he decided to print and photocopy a general thank you note describing the outcome, and added handwritten notes to them before he dropped them off.

 

As I said before, I'm very proud of him...I also like the idea that he is seeing that service projects don't have to be difficult...with a good idea and a little advance planning, a fairly easy to accomplish project can make a big difference.

[croushorn]

You ceratinly should be proud! It's a great feeling watching these boys grow and accomplish. Enjoy your time with him, it flies by.

[NJCubScouter]

GKlose, I think this is great also, but as you already appear to realize, you have to be watchful for "burnout" on the part of this young Scout. There is a reason why the rank requirements (including the community service requirements) are "graduated" (or if you prefer, "progressive", but don't anybody get upset.) A self-created "project" is required only for Eagle. For the lower ranks it is fine to just participate in someone else's (or organization's) community service project as a "worker bee." It's great for the boy to show initiative, as long as he (and his parents) know what the requirements are, make a conscious decision to go beyond them, and are willing to invest the time and energy to do it, and not get "burned out." I was a little concerned about this in my own troop when one boy going for Cit. in the Community decided to turn his 8 hours of work for a community charitable organization into a mini- (or midi-) Eagle project.

 

On the question of service projects for Cub packs, it may be true that community service is not required for rank advancement (I have not read the Cub Scout rank requirements lately and I suspect they have changed since the last time I did; despite my account name, I have not been a "Cub Scouter" for five years.) However, participating in a cleanup project does "count" toward the "panda patch" (World Conservation Award) if that is of any interest. It's in the book somewhere. My son's pack (and now troop) like to promote that as a nice little thing to do along the way while earning rank advancements.