How to plan a Cub Scout service project

Hello everyone. Welcome to Cubchat Live. If you're like me, you're seeing a familiar face and are very excited to have an old friend from the show joining us today. Lisa is now, we're just calling her, just calling her a partner. Member Committee, but she is still a big VIP on the show. Lisa, thanks for coming back. Oh, it's so good to come back and see you and everyone. I'm so excited that our audience is so happy to be able to talk to you. A reminder for everyone. watching whether you're on a council page or Scout Life

scout

ing magazine or the Boy Scouts of America page, you can go to facebook.com

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ing magazine to join the live conversation where you can sit, relax, ask questions and have a conversation. wherever you are, but we'll be reading a lot of live comments today, Lisa, when I think the first email we got from you when we were formulating this program was like, you know, I have a list, that's our Lisa.

Well, we have certain things we want to cover to make sure everyone gets what they need and that's what we start with, is a list. Once you think about the perfect Cub Scout leader, today guys, we're talking about something that I actually don't think many people realize is so integral to Cub Scouting that they associate it with Scouts BSA, but we're talking about

project

s. of

service

and how you can

plan

a great one. Lisa, exactly, keep in mind that the Boy Scouts of America, which includes Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA, has four goals for the program and one of them is citizenship training and what better way to help our youngest Scouts learn? how to be good citizens than to participate in a

service

project

, yes, absolutely and I.

I'm excited to talk a little bit about how this comes into play and you know Cub Scouting can be a long journey if you're in it all the time and you know it's probably not a one-time thing. I'm imagining you. I know the service goes on and on. I know we preview this at the top of the show. We have a list of tips for

plan

ning a wonderful Cub Scout service project. We have some photos of amazing service projects around the country. Gotta give some shout outs, Hi Dave, you're tuned into Rusty and Pack 84 in New Philadelphia Ohio, Pack 92 in Bolivar Ohio, Shout out to everyone watching, if you're joining the show conversation let us know what kind of service projects they do.

Have you planned What have you done this fall? What are you planning in the spring? We want to know the hike Mike says um for your lions and tigers they made thank you cards and bought cookies for the fire department. I like that, I haven't heard that. left by those who work on Valentine's Day, it's a great idea because those firefighters aren't necessarily with anyone else on Valentine's Day. I like that, I like that, so think about that. I love that he did it for Valentine's Day and one of the things that, um, when you think about a service project is what are you going to do when you're doing something, how can you help the community in need in terms of right time, we used to do a pack of hours, we used to do Toys for Tots every December so kids would bring to a pack meeting, bring a toy, and we were actually lucky enough to have the Marine Corps send a representative because the Marine Corps actually sponsors Toys for Tots, so I would do it for Christmas.

I like quality-focused ideas and Hike Mike corrected me on something that, honestly, he should have thought wouldn't be Valentine's Day, although that could work too. Oh, Veterans Day, Veterans Day, you know how I often went on Valentine's Day dates. but I got it, I quickly thanked the four pack in St Louis Missouri and, uh, Dave, yeah, he said they made cards for the vets at the VA Hospital. It's also a great idea. I think Cub Scouts enjoy reaching out to veterans. I think they It's a great mutual relationship, again, it shows that comment, it shows the citizenship component, if it's training for citizenship, it's a service project that gives back to the citizens who gave for their country, so I think which is a really wonderful idea and ties everything together, yeah, it's a fabulous parallel.

We'll read more of your service project experiences as we go, but first I want to ask Lisa what the secret is to planning a Cub Scout service project. Well, first thing. I like to think about whether you need to find a need in your community. There's nothing worse than doing something no one cares about, so look at that as you plan your service project and I encourage you to have at least one annually. service project once a year, but talk to your authorized partner maybe you can establish a relationship there. Some of our units have better relationships with each other than others, but talk to your authorized partner.

Is there anything I can do for them? Many of our Cub Scout packs. They have a relationship with their elementary school, they meet there and that's where they recruit, maybe this is an opportunity for you to establish a relationship with your elementary school, talk to the principal of the school or the administration, is there anything that your Cub Scout pack could be? do for them, is there a community event? As there are many activities that take place for Veterans Day, there are many activities that take place during the holidays, how can your Cub Scout pack really help in the community? be thinking about when you're planning your annual service project, yes, that's a great addition to the ideas there, but I also want to say that there's no shortage of areas that you can help your community, but you also don't want to just take on and start cleaning up a park. or something like that, maybe they have a system in place, they don't want you there or there's some ecosystem that you might be disturbing, that's where Mike says to check with your city parks departments regularly, we have volunteer days and we.

We'll set it up, we'll set one up if you have a group and it's good for older Scouts, that's a good point, especially if you're thinking about BSA Scout members for the trash people, right, right. I would never do anything without contacting someone because like you said there are already a lot of opportunities and so we want to work in partnership with someone and you certainly don't want to send kids to do something that like you said someone else will actually be doing a lot in the cities. A lot of cities and counties have employees that are supposed to do certain things, so you have to stop and think about things like that because a lot of times they're doing something too and there are the right people that amplify it, I think with your pack, right? okay, okay, what's next, what's next is you really have to think about what kids can actually do.

The really unique thing about a Cub Scout pack and planning a service project is that you have to keep in mind that you have kids who are in kindergarten. to fifth grade, so what they can do physically varies, you have to think about how long they could do it because a kindergartener's attention span is about 20 or 30 minutes, but a fifth grader actually can. give them multiple instructions and they can go out and do something for a couple of hours, so you need to find a project that works for all of those age groups. I really encourage you to do something close, right? parents drive a couple of hours and then again, you know, maybe you want to have something that's a little more open so people can visit when it suits them and they can stay as long as their child is. being able to do that, it seems like it would work really well, you know, for families, if there's a younger child that's going to stay with their parents, maybe they won't be able to be there all day, so I like the ability to be flexible depending on the ages.

The health and safety team would like me to ask Lisa. Are there things you see Pax and the dens doing that are really forbidden or that Cub Scouts really shouldn't do those things? See them well in these times. I really encourage you not to pick up trash. It is dangerous. The kid has broken bottles and cans and things that kids really shouldn't pick up. So I would almost guarantee that Richard and the team would do it. Say, don't pick up trash now. You can certainly go out and exercise in the garden and plant flowers for your authorized organization or, if your authorized organization wants to sweep somewhere in a parking lot, that would work, but actually, picking up trash would probably prevent that, yeah, I'm very glad that you brought that up because I heard Richard say that really Cub Scout-aged kids shouldn't pick up trash, period, your older Scouts maybe, but they should definitely have something really good. gloves on, I heard that too, so, of course, we think it's something so simple.

Oh well, let's go pick up some trash, but no, it's not right, you have to think about the logistics of that right, so we've thought about what. we can do and we have thought about what our Cub Scouts can do, what is next. So I would say you need to put together a plan of action, you need to know exactly what it is that you're supposed to do, so this is partnering with Someone that you know is partnering with your authorized partner or with a local community organization, whoever Whatever adult is planning this, you should talk to the person in charge and go visit them, if possible, in advance, so that when the Cub Scouts show up, you are able to tell them exactly what to do and they are not waiting for you.

Make some kind of plan, because kids need to know what they should bring and what they should wear. so if you're doing something like what a lot of our units will do, uh, community food drive, then think about, okay, they're going to do a door-to-door food drive. Can you carry all that? That gets a little heavy, even the Parents don't want to carry all the food, do they want the kids running back and forth to a car? We did it one year and someone said, "Oh, you know, having a car follow you." That became a bit problematic.

Well, then we would take wagons so the kids could go back and forth to the end of the driveway and put the food in the wagon. If we had a series of carriages, then we could bring the carriages back to the car so that the children can continue doing whatever they need to do and then you have to plan for the right weather if it is raining. When I lived in the Pacific Northwest, we always had the kids in raincoats and boots, um, if it's cold, you need to have some gloves or mittens, so if you have it on your yearly calendar and you know what time of year it is, then will be able to plan what the kids are supposed to wear, so this item on the list makes I think back to our episode from two weeks ago, where Anthony went over his safe method for planning Cub Scout activities and it really can be totally applied planning the day or days of your service project, thinking about supervision and evaluation of the environment. you might have to check your medical and health records because of what you're going to do, that might be something that comes into play if you want to recap that episode, we have a link at the bottom of the screen. where you can see it, it's good um and then I know we're going to talk more about activity ideas in just a few minutes, but I wanted to read a couple of comments if that's okay with you before I get absolutely perfect.

Wendy has two big service projects, so last spring her pack and Troop collected over 5,000 pounds of food from her neighborhood into a batch for a local food pantry and weighed it for us, which is always a really cool thing to be able to do. know it. their Scouts the way they are grateful for the timely donations since their shelves were running low, they do a food drive at least once a year and then during covid and then every summer as a home activity they made Scouts had a storm drain in the street near their house and cleaned up debris like leaves that accumulated, they did it safely, they were probably familiar with the area as their own neighborhoods and the mayor actually sent thank you notes to each one of them, how funny is that right to receive Some comments on what you did.

I mean, how wonderful it is, absolutely. Now I'm reading this comment. I don't know, it might be my favorite. It's very simple, but I'm thinking about the summer of service in a few years. A long time ago, Scouts were tasked with coming up with service projects that could continue, it wasn't a one and done thing, so Gabby says they are Cub Scouts washing the tables and chairs of their chartered organization. I love that. that's right, it takes care of everything, it's age appropriate, it helps your um, your Charter partner build a relationship and they're probably wearing that stuff, the Cub Scout pack, and let's face it, their hands are probably a little dirty. for the activities they carry out.

I've been making and the food they've been eating, so for me it's like a full circle. I love that, yeah, yeah, I have to agree that it's so repeatable that it probably becomes second nature to explorers and that's it. Ofwhat it's about, like you're doing a good deed, it should be part of what you do every day without thinking it through. Mike intervenes. This is something you wouldn't think about, so there could be events in town like Halloween or Christmas. and children may organize and run games for the crowd thinking that little children would be In that, especially, maybe there is a charity component, like maybe it's an event that raises money for something else, they're going to organize games, they're going to have fun and are still doing something really great for the community, our colleague Eric.

He says they do two major projects each year foraging for food in the Great American Cleanup. They try to do something smaller at each pack meeting, so like in September, they do a peanut butter drive. In October they do a sock and coat drive. In November they collect donations for troops abroad. um and this December they collected hygiene supplies for the Collin County Children's Advocacy Center and this Thanksgiving they prepared meals with Feed My Starving Children tomorrow they will be laying wreaths for wreaths across the United States. I mean, wow, that's like wow, I'm just suggesting that you put it on your yearly calendar and do one a year, but wow, what an amazing program they must have in that package.

I agree, they were both a lot of fun and the donations were cheap, like we were thinking about socks, stuff like that. I think it's a great idea, right? right, and I love that because it's all very doable for kids that age, right, and for them to show up and it seems like if they're packed it means they leave it right so the kids at home know they need to do it. bring something to the pack meeting and what I love about that is that they don't ask parents to go and do something every month, well, go somewhere because they have to think about it.

Most of our Cub Scout parents are two-parent households. The parents are working and so what we're trying to do is keep them in the program, you enroll them, let's keep them in the program, but by having them do this, just dropping them off, it shows them citizenship and I don't make it burdensome for the parents in absolute, so there is also my membership moment. No, that's a good perspective that I don't think many of us think about. Okay, I have one more comment to read before we move on. I just wanted to congratulate the St. Louis Council and they actually like the cleanup of the Missouri River in the summer, which is a huge river, so yeah, yeah, okay, we'll read more of your comments after we keep checking back. this checklist will help.

You're planning a wonderful Cub Scout service project, so keep leaving your service project ideas or past experiences in the comments. I love reading them and we will see some photos soon too. Well, we've talked about finding a need in your community, we've talked about knowing what kids can and can't do and then putting together an action plan and then doing the service project, so what I really encourage you to do is when they do the service project, if they are doing it. something external, whether it's your constituent organization or whether you're scouting for food or whether you're doing cleanup along the Missouri River, have some signs, be thinking about saying Cub Scouts at Work, you know, scouts at work. the work, um. for our fall recruitment we have these plastic yard signs that say, you know, be a scout, you know, join scouting, all you have to do, there's a nice blank space that says Cub Scouts at Work or You can just use a, you know, you know, use a piece of cardboard or something, it's just a way to remind people that the Scouts are still out there and they're actually doing something right, they're doing their good deed, They are being good citizens and remember while you have your project, you probably want to eat some snacks because kids are always motivated by snacks and then you want to make sure you have a bathroom somewhere nearby.

Think about it. These are all the things that when you are doing the project you want. make sure the kids are having a good time and that they're really engaged and that you're removing all of their obstacles or barriers to having some success. Going back to people talking about active income and passive income. thinking about recruiting, there is active recruiting, we talked about it a lot in the fall, but just signing up like you mentioned, that's your passive recruiting, it takes no effort and you don't even have to think about it as recruiting, it's just a reminder. people like you said we're still here, we're still here and the kids are actually doing something.

I can't tell you how many people stopped by when we were looking for food, the kids were in their t-shirts. the kid was carrying a sign, you know, that said Cub Scouts at Work and people would walk by and stop and say, wait, what are you guys doing? and they were congratulating the kids and the kids were very proud of themselves because someone recognized them that they were doing something good for their community, yeah okay, I also think maybe the parents involved with the packs and the dens forget because you have to your wild son with whom you know you live and deal. every day but for the rest of us it may warm your heart it's the same thing when you know you're selling popcorn it's like there are these sweet little Cub Scouts that are doing exactly what I would do I think Cub Scouts do it are doing, it's just that it's a feel-good time for everyone, it's absolutely, absolutely, you mentioned food and baths, baths are definitely a given and you said you know Cub Scouts are motivated by food, they absolutely are, Also his parents, I mean.

You have a pizza or something there. I think your parents will be happy to come. Absolutely. Okay, so we had the event. We had the event and the number five after the event is always important. We have a retrospective right, so let's have something. recognition at the PAC meeting like Wendy said they weighed the food they had 5,000 pounds celebrate that at the PAC meeting, celebrate big, everyone pat themselves on the back, look what they did, that's awesome, okay , ask the Cub Scouts what they liked and didn't like. I think it's very important to ask the kids who are actually doing the work what they liked about the experience, maybe what they would change for next time.

Ask them and then at the Pac committee meeting. is where you set your annual plan because you should again have a service project as part of your annual plan have a discussion about what worked what didn't work what worked how the children participated how many people how many families actually participated as if I have been doing the same project service for four or five years and you see that the number of families participating is decreasing, maybe you need to change it, think about something different, you know? There was a package we wanted to say we talked about. that they had a service project every month, I bet they do something for a couple of years and then they change it because the needs in the community change, the people involved, the people who know someone in another service organization , so they have one in the change because the volunteers in your unit change, so change it, keep it up to date like you talked about before, you know if you're in the Cub Scout program long term, you don't really get bored, kids get bored doing this.

I already did well in the last two years, so change it and think about that, but that's all part of that hindsight. Take an honest look at yourself and if this works, what works and what doesn't work, we do it in the national Cub. scouting committee all the time we are constantly looking for feedback on everything we do, that's so true, it's like the show, we're always asking for feedback, we guys will throw in a URL or a QR code at the end of the show because we want to knowing what's working what's not what we can do that's different um it makes me think too Anthony and you also in our program have talked about keeping an open dialogue with parents surveying them asking them if they could hear about some different projects and things that you could participate in Of course they will be new next year because you never heard of them, you or maybe that family wasn't involved before, just like we never were when I started our pack years and years ago.

We didn't do foraging, I mean, I'm sorry, we didn't do Toys for Tots in December, but someone new joined and she was at a pack meeting and she came up to me and said, you know we could do scouting, we could do Toys for Tots. I know the boy's parents that he is the current recruiter for the Marines and he would be happy to come. I mean, it opened up, it opened up, it really opened up and what the kids liked is. then they would go shopping with their parents to buy a toy and then each child would come up individually and give their gift to the Marine and that was part of our December pack meeting and then we went and had craft time and did all kinds of fun. things, but again, all the kids were great because all the kids were able to participate, all the kids got a handshake from the Marines, but it was just based on someone saying, I know the parents of the current Marine who is the recruiter, so we were open to that. right, yeah, that's the benefit of thinking about open dialogue and going with your parents, also talking about Toys for Tots Jim says they made Toys for Tots, they made cars for deployed troops and local police firefighters, they had a food drive.

I guess they had an annual Spring Trail cleanup with their troop. I guess the city council and mayor were there and served at a soup kitchen and collected winter clothing for kids, all really good ideas, potentially seasonal or event-based. I like it, yes, yes, again. is that teaching our children about citizenship by doing something, children learn by doing something that they don't necessarily learn by being lectured, so we could lecture them all day about how to be a good citizen, but by doing a service project, they actually learn. . how to do it right, yeah, and like you said at the top of the show, service projects are really part of the civics training for these young girls and boys, they say service projects are fun to do and they absolutely learn, let's take that list one.

More time for the checklist before moving on to the photos. I know we have a lot of photos to go through in a few minutes, but in case you weren't seeing the screenshot, know that we've gone through every single one of these. At the beginning of the episode you'll be able to watch them after we're live and Rewind, but again you can take a screenshot, save it to your phone, and maybe start planning a Cub Scout service project over the holidays. I don't really know and As I said before and I can't emphasize it enough, it should be part of your annual plan.

You can do one a year. You can do one every two months. You could do one per season. But whatever it is, make it a part. your annual plan, yeah that makes a lot of sense and I definitely think having it as part of your annual plan or doing it once a year per se is the minimum of course you should do it once a year but you know if we can do it more or Even if there are small subsets of your pack that can do more, that's great, so we have some photos that I think our Cub Scout community helped supply, yes, absolutely, so take a look. the beauty of social media, I love seeing it here, um, in this particular image.

I bet it looks like they're cleaning up the yard to me and I'd say I've seen it before, probably their bylaw organization in the fall. leaf cleaning, yeah, how wonderful is that and I'm going to give them an A plus because I can see they have gloves on, they're being safe, I like that, absolutely, I like it, what else do we have, um more, you know? Look at that enthusiasm, it just jumps out of the photo, you even have a backpack. I'm not sure what it is, but you know, maybe he has all the snacks there, see, let's call him, there's all the snacks there. right, um, Christmas readings, I think they're foreign, yeah, or like little miniature trees.

I'll see if I can find some context for this by looking at the group here. I love it because they are all doing something together, it is all of them. We're creating something all together and then I guess they took them somewhere like we talked about, making cards for our veterans or you know, things like that, so it should be two parts, right? everyone does something together and then they'll probably take it somewhere. I love it, um, okay, so the background of this is that it was a Christmas service project, the miniature Christmas decoration things, like the ornaments, etc., are now 50 off, so they went and grabbed them, They have only the tips of some fir trees and large ice cream sticks, which form the base with hot glue and so in an X shape and, on the right, some wire to tie the trees, it is agreat idea, yes, I want to see exactly who.

I have those, I'm trying to do some research, um, that package made little Charlie Brown-style Christmas trees for the residents of Walker Methodist, senior residents, okay, so those go for seniors, oh, I like that and then They have their own private tree. in your room what a great idea to bring a little happiness and joy to people in the Christmas season perfect, yes, okay, so what else? Oh, it's a service project. It looks like we have crayons in a box, scissors and a few other things. I have some contact there, Gina. I'm very glad you asked.

This is the crayon initiative service project and their pack had been working on collecting crayons all year and their local elementary school allowed us to place a collection bag in the school office for the final exam. week of school and that's why I think Maybe I had this idea in this Cub Scout volunteer group and they're going to melt them down to make new crayons and I'm going to package them up and donate them to children's hospitals. Okay, it's part of a larger initiative, but I love this, what I love is that it's Cub Scout. Pack works with their elementary school because we, we're trying to create them and they're creating a relationship and they're not asking the elementary school for anything, they're actually helping the elementary school, that sounds to me like they're I'm going to do this anyway, so the Cub Scouts are just helping them, which is great because I'm having a membership moment here, it's a great way to create a relationship where you're not going to come in and ask anything, it's what they Are you saying. how you can help and how the kids at your primary school can really help, that brings me back to some of our old drinks chat lives, Lisa, I remember, yes this would fit the bill and if you want to watch past episodes of Cub live chat, In fact, can we have a URL where we can direct you to watch past episodes with a server and also with a server?

Please, we have a couple, I think two more photos, okay, here we go. The context here is that this is your pac's annual service project called box oh, they make boxes for Operation Christmas Child they do a car wash fundraiser in the summer to pay for shipping the boxes very clever and the scouts raise some money during the period of time last night they filled 78 boxes with 18 Scouts in the pack that is selfless to do the summer car wash just to ship those boxes because many troops in the pack use it to raise funds for their units as well that we're really doing all that work just to donate it to another cause. it's really quite amazing, it's quite amazing and what I love that this picture shows is that everyone is on board, you have the boys and girls who are Cub Scouts and I see a future Cub Scout there, but again it's the whole family doing something together and so on.

I think it's really important to remember that when you do these service projects it's the whole family that benefits, whether you know it or not, if you have some kids that aren't in Cub Scouts, why not ask them to do it? They can also learn something along the way, right, yes, especially something like this. I think you are filling boxes with essential toiletries, you probably have a checklist, there is no reason for it if you have a three or four year old little sister or brother at home who also couldn't make a box, there is no package, he will reject, very, very, very, very, well, I think we have one more, oh my God, I mean, okay, this is called Exploration.

For bicycles, um, they are full of assistance. from his troop collected 93 bicycles, the bicycles are reconditioned if necessary, so you know, they are used, so maybe it seems shocking, but it is very possible, especially at Christmas, if people are upgrading their bicycles, so these They are donated. to local charities for Christmas wish lists or some of them go to the local scout camp. Many bikes looked almost new. They picked up bikes for four hours in the parking lot of your licensed organization, just as you suggested Lisa use that licensed organization. The scouts then check all the tires and inflate them if necessary, check the brakes and get some bike maintenance tutorials from the adults present if you know how to do that, that's really cool.

I love this because what it showed was so much. job to get the bikes there in the first place, the kids probably made some flyers, they probably made some social media posts, then they used that relationship with their licensed partner, then the CEO said, well, can we have a collection site? ? So the kids were just there and they probably met people while riding their bikes and they exclaimed and felt weird about the bikes and the kids felt really good about taking the bike out and probably got congratulations from the people who were falling. I took it from them, I'm very happy that they're doing that, so it's building a lot of that goodwill in the community, which is very important for our kids to have positive feedback so that, at the right time, immediate positive feedback, immediate recognition of what it is. what they're doing, yeah, and you're absolutely right, they had to do a lot of promotion because I don't think you'd get 93 bikes without a little bit of planning and promotion ahead of time, honestly, that trailer, I mean, yeah. looks like it's the biggest trailer you've ever seen oh my god I love this this is really cool yeah that's really really awesome Lisa we're getting comments saying this is an amazing show people are saying I have learned a lot, there are many new things out there totally agree, keep that idea.

Sharon appears in the comments. You have all kinds of innovative service project ideas and even some classic ones that you know and could suggest. Please keep those comments coming. really valuable to our community and other Cub Scout leaders will definitely read and see that after we go live today Lisa, you are fabulous as always, is there anything else you would like to add to today's show? Just a final reminder that in the spring that you will probably do, we recommend that you do some planning for the next program year and when you meet as a committee to do that program planning, remember to include an annual service project, at least one project of service. that's age appropriate for all kids kindergarten through first grade, that's what we ask them to do and it promotes one of the goals within the Boy Scouts of America, which is civics training, it's comprehensive, it's integral to the program, you know, it's just It's just as important as anything else that your Cub Scouts do, so I'm glad you brought this to our attention again.

I think a lot of times people think that service projects are good for Eagle Scouts and Scouts BSA. Cub Scouts just have fun. and they have fun, but you can do it, you can have fun in your service projects and in planning your service projects absolutely, I think this is one of our best episodes, Lisa, I'm not just saying that, we really appreciate that we all tune in Today once again, if you want to watch past episodes of cubchat live, you absolutely can and we will. I scoff at this and I'll hand it over. We are always looking for feedback.

If you have ideas for future shows, please let us know. I don't like something about our show, let us know we can handle it, just give us all your feedback, scan the QR code on the screen right now and rate this episode. Lisa, thank you very much. I don't want to let you go, but I think so. It was good to see you again Gina, thank you all for tuning in today and like Gina said, keep your comments coming because the Cubs County National Committee reviews them and we're always looking for new ideas, um, um, for the life of the Cubs chat.

Cup. absolutely fine guys, see you next time, okay, bye everyone.