1st Mate
03-27-2007, 03:05 PM
In a more positive tone...
I am a big believer that you can do more good telling positive stories of how things work than to complain about what's broke. There are times when the scout unit or units get estranged from their charter organization. That can be very damaging to a unit and to the charter organization as well. The unit loses valuable resources, effective recruiting avenues, financial support, and activity opportunities, sometimes even their meeting room.
The charter organization loses out on the opportunity to feel connected to the good things happening in the unit as well as the pride in watching the growth of their scouts. They lose the ability to point at their scouting program and take crdeit for the health and quality of the program as a part of their service to the community.
It is not unlike the losses experienced between a parent who is uninvolved in the life of their child.
This is not an unfixable problem, nor does it take much time. The biggest thing that has to happen is the first step. One side has to be willing to take the first step no matter who they see as "at fault" in the separation.
Here is an example of one such situation I watched, and how it changed things. A troop that was down to about 9 boys selected a new scoutmaster. While there was a full committee complete with a Charter organization representative, there was little attachment between the charter organization, a Church, and the troop.
The new scoutmaster had the scouts meet at the church one sunday in ful uniform about 30 minutes before the first service and start to pick up litter from the chuch grounds. Of course everyone entering for Sunday service saw the boys, many said ****o, thanked them for what they were doing, told them how nice it was to see scouts at the church again (the boys found this funny since the troop had been there for decades). During the service the scouts took a break, those that belonged to the church went in for service. As the people left they found the scouts hard at work again.
Within a few weeks the poeple stopped to tell their stories of when they were scouts, some brought photos, others made donations to the troop. The troop then went to the pastor and asked if there were any upcoming activities where the troop could help set up tables and chairs, greet people at the door, hang up coats, etc.
Within two months the troop was invited to a meeting of the church board to give a 'State of the troop' report . At that meeting the troop made a $50 donation to another youth activity that the chuch was holding a fundraiser for. Two days later the troop received a check for $500 from the church, and a offer to hold an annual spaghetti dinner to raise money for the troop.
It took about 8 weeks of random acts of kindness to resurrect the lost relationship. It's not unlike wanting to get a date with someone. Clean yourself up, dress appropriately, and go do nice things for them. Before you know it they will ask you out on the date!
Within a year and half the troop was up to 35 youth with 6 assistant scoutmasters, all new camp gear and the scoutmaster and SPL had an office next to the meeting room.
If all they had done was complain about the relationship it would only have gotten worse.
I am a big believer that you can do more good telling positive stories of how things work than to complain about what's broke. There are times when the scout unit or units get estranged from their charter organization. That can be very damaging to a unit and to the charter organization as well. The unit loses valuable resources, effective recruiting avenues, financial support, and activity opportunities, sometimes even their meeting room.
The charter organization loses out on the opportunity to feel connected to the good things happening in the unit as well as the pride in watching the growth of their scouts. They lose the ability to point at their scouting program and take crdeit for the health and quality of the program as a part of their service to the community.
It is not unlike the losses experienced between a parent who is uninvolved in the life of their child.
This is not an unfixable problem, nor does it take much time. The biggest thing that has to happen is the first step. One side has to be willing to take the first step no matter who they see as "at fault" in the separation.
Here is an example of one such situation I watched, and how it changed things. A troop that was down to about 9 boys selected a new scoutmaster. While there was a full committee complete with a Charter organization representative, there was little attachment between the charter organization, a Church, and the troop.
The new scoutmaster had the scouts meet at the church one sunday in ful uniform about 30 minutes before the first service and start to pick up litter from the chuch grounds. Of course everyone entering for Sunday service saw the boys, many said ****o, thanked them for what they were doing, told them how nice it was to see scouts at the church again (the boys found this funny since the troop had been there for decades). During the service the scouts took a break, those that belonged to the church went in for service. As the people left they found the scouts hard at work again.
Within a few weeks the poeple stopped to tell their stories of when they were scouts, some brought photos, others made donations to the troop. The troop then went to the pastor and asked if there were any upcoming activities where the troop could help set up tables and chairs, greet people at the door, hang up coats, etc.
Within two months the troop was invited to a meeting of the church board to give a 'State of the troop' report . At that meeting the troop made a $50 donation to another youth activity that the chuch was holding a fundraiser for. Two days later the troop received a check for $500 from the church, and a offer to hold an annual spaghetti dinner to raise money for the troop.
It took about 8 weeks of random acts of kindness to resurrect the lost relationship. It's not unlike wanting to get a date with someone. Clean yourself up, dress appropriately, and go do nice things for them. Before you know it they will ask you out on the date!
Within a year and half the troop was up to 35 youth with 6 assistant scoutmasters, all new camp gear and the scoutmaster and SPL had an office next to the meeting room.
If all they had done was complain about the relationship it would only have gotten worse.