Cub Scout Pack 70 & 72 Event Planning Sheet

Name of Event:

Scouting For Food

Past Event Chairs:

Mary Chapman (2010); John Hogan (2009)

Event Co-Chair:

Background:

(History if recurring or reason/purpose for new event)

This is an annual service project that highlights the service the boys can provide to their community and the impact they can have on helping others who are less fortunate.  This event is appropriate for all Cub Scouts of all ages and abilities.  It is also an event that siblings and friends should be encouraged to participate in.

Vision for the Event:

(What will it look like?  Who will it involve?  How will it work?)

The event can be broken down into two major elements.

1)  Distribution of door hangers.

2)  Collection of donations and delivery to a local food bank.

Usually the distribution of door hangers and collection of donations is spread one week apart.  Any longer and people forget and any shorter, people are not prepared.

While Council has a specified day in March for Scouting For Food, there is flexibility as long as it is completed in the month of March.

Planning Section

What resources are needed for a successful event?

Location:

It is best to coordinate this event with Queen Anne Boy Scout Troops 70 and 72 as Scouting For Food is a BSA wide activity.  Typically, the lines of demarcation are:

Boy Scout Troop 70:  North Boundary - W. McGraw St.

                                   South Boundary – Galer

                                   East Boundary - 4^th Ave. W.

                                   West Boundary - 15^th Ave. W.

Boy Scout Troop 72:  North Boundary - McGraw St.

                                   South Boundary – Galer

                                   East Boundary – Bigelow Ave. N.

                                   West Boundary – 3^rd Ave. W.

Cub Scout Packs 70 & 72:    Anything north of W. McGraw and McGraw.

Facility Needs:

(Kitchen, dishes, silverware, tables, decorations, etc.)

None

Equipment Needs:

Door Hanger Distribution

·     Door hangers (available from Council).

·     Pre-printed adhesive backed labels.

·     20 copies of the area record sheet.

·     Larger scale map for the entire area being covered (for tracking progress).

·     Colored markers/highlighters for marking completed streets on larger scale area map.

Donation Collection

·     Plastic or paper grocery bags.

·     Cardboard boxes.

·     Pickup truck (covered bed is preferred in case it rains) or station wagon to serve as a central repository and transport donations to the food bank.  Be sure to have a back-up vehicle to transport donations to the food bank in case you exceed the capacity of the primary vehicle.

·     Vehicles to transfer donations from each street to the primary vehicle transporting the donations to the food bank.

·     Pen and paper.

·     Indelible ink markers.

·     Larger scale map for the entire area being covered (for tracking progress).

·     Colored markers/highlighters for marking completed streets on larger scale area map.

Staffing Needs:

·     1 event coordinator

·     As many adults as possible to transport the boys to the designated areas and supervise the distribution of door hangers and collection of donations.

Program Elements:

Door Hanger Distribution:

·     Meet at a location central to the area being covered.  Rogers Park has worked well, but you need to be specific as to where in the park you will be gathering.

·     Explain rules:

-    Each Scout is to use the buddy system and know where their buddy is at all times.

-    Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is any boy to enter anyone’s home, even if invited.

-    If a house has a “No Soliciting” sign, skip that house and move on.

-    Be aware of dogs.

-    The boys should progress down one side of the street and not cross back and forth on a street.  Scouts shall only cross the street when an adult is by their side.

-    Be respectful of peoples property and do not cut across lawns or through gardens.

-    Each team of boys must have an adult with them and in eyesight at all times.

-    Door hangers are to be secure in such a manner that they will not blow-off in the wind.

-    DO NOT put door hangers in any mail boxes.

·    Record names of adults, scouts and siblings/friends participating (used for reporting as a Good Turn for America).  You will also need to be aware of the time worked by each person.

-    Detail required for reporting information to Good Turn for America for each Pack is hours worked by:

¨               Cub Scout

¨               Registered Cub Scout Leader

¨               Non-Cub Scout siblings/friends

¨               Non-registered adults.

·    Determine how many drivers you have and break into teams.  Remember BSA policy that no adult is to be alone in a vehicle with any scout that is not their own child.

·    Exchange cell phone numbers.

·    Assign areas recording information on record sheet.

·    Once a team is complete with their assigned area, have them report back in for reporting any areas that they did not complete on their assigned street.  Record this information on the respective record sheet.

·    Keep assigning areas as they are completed until you run out of door hangers, time or interest.

Donation Collection:

·     Meet at a location central to the area being covered.  Rogers Park has worked well, but you need to be specific as to where in the park you will be gathering.

·     Explain rules:

-    Each Scout is to use the buddy system and know where their buddy is at all times.

-    Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is any boy to enter anyone’s home, even if invited.

-    If a house has a “No Soliciting” sign, skip that house and move on.

-    Be aware of dogs.

-    The boys should progress down one side of the street and not cross back and forth on a street.  Scouts shall only cross the street when an adult is by their side.

-    Be respectful of peoples property and do not cut across lawns or through gardens.

-    Each team of boys must have an adult with them and in eyesight at all times.

·     Record names of adults, scouts and siblings/friends participating (used for reporting as a Good Turn for America).  You will also need to be aware of the time worked by each person.

-    Detail required for reporting information to Good Turn for America for each Pack is hours worked by:

¨     Cub Scout

¨     Registered Cub Scout Leader

¨     Non-Cub Scout siblings/friends

¨     Non-registered adults.

·     Determine how many drivers you have and break into teams.  Remember BSA policy that no adult is to be alone in a vehicle with any scout that is not their own child.

·     Exchange cell phone numbers.

·     Assign areas to be covered based upon the record sheet.  It is best if possible to have the same team collect donations on the same street that they distributed door hangers.  Record names on record sheet.

·     Keep assigning areas as they are completed until all areas where door hangers were distributed have been covered.

·     Bring all donations back to a central collection point such as Rogers Park.

·     Sort through donations and discard open packages or spoiled items.

·     To assist with counting number of donations, limit the number of items in any given bag to 10, that way the number of bags can be quickly counted to arrive at a total number (used for reporting as a Good Turn for America).

·     For ease of handling, repackage donations into boxes.  Markers can be used to write the number of items in any given box.

·     Transport items to food bank.

·     If possible, obtain actual weight of all donated items though an estimation by the food bank is acceptable.

Post Event:

·     Report time worked by all participants and total count on donations.  Detail required for reporting information to Good Turn for America for each Pack is hours worked by:

-    Cub Scout

-    Registered Cub Scout Leader

-    Non-Cub Scout siblings/friends

-    Non-registered adults.

·     Report total donations either by weight or item count as prompted.  As this information is to be recorded by each Pack, it is necessary to credit each Pack based upon the hours worked by each Pack as a percentage of the total combined hours worked.

Awards:

None other than a great sense of satisfaction.

Boys will be recognized with a Good Turn for America patch and year segment.

Budget:

$20.00 for Avery 5161/8161 adhesive back labels (Available at Staples or any other office supply store).

Food:

None, however, as the boys will be walking quite a bit, it is advisable that they all bring water bottles.

Timeline

(Important dates, checkpoints)

1 Month Prior to to Door Hanger Distribution:

·     Announce event to the Pack at large at Pack meeting and email

2-3 Weeks Prior to Door Hanger Distribution:

·     Contact food bank and coordinate time for drop-off of donations.

·     Coordinate boundaries with Boy Scout Troop 70 & Boy Scout Troop 72 and any allowable incursions.

·     Obtain door hangers from Council.

1 Week Prior to Door Hanger Distribution:

·     Send reminder email to the Pack at large.  Remind the boys and adult leaders to wear their uniforms.

·     Print adhesive back labels for attachment to the door hangers.  It is important that a name and phone number be provided as a means for missed pick-ups (which there will be) to call.

·     Affix adhesive backed labels to door hangers and bundle in packages of 50 so you can keep track of how many have been distributed.

Day of Door Hanger Distribution

4-5 Days Prior to Collection of Donations:

·     Send reminder email to the Pack at large.  Remind the boys and adult leaders to wear their uniforms.

1 Week after Distribution of Door Hangers:

·     Collect donations and delivery to a food bank.

Within 2 Weeks After Collection of Donations

·     Report event online to Good Turn for America for each pack.

·     Submit names of boys that participated to the Rank Advancement committee member for purchasing a Good Turn for America patch (in not previously awarded for participation in other events or previous years) and Good Turn for America Year segment for current year.

Miscellaneous:

Past Event Pictures

Implementation Section

Record of Action:

(What happened? Who did it? Dates?)

2006 Event Chair:

Jim Grane

2006 Event Co-Chair:

Lessons Learned:

Date of Door Hanger Distribution:  3/18/06

Date of Donations Collection:  3/25/06

Total Door Hangers Distributed:  900 (approx.)

Total Numbers of Items Collected: 715

Total Weight of Items Collected: 800 pounds

Donations Delivered to:  Ballard Food Bank

Area Covered:

3^rd Ave. N. from Florentia to south end

Mayfair Ave. N. from Florentia to Newell

2^nd Ave. N. from Florentia to Newell

Warren Ave. N. from Florentia to Newell

1^st Ave. N. from Florentia to Queen Anne Drive

Queen Anne Ave. N. from Florentia to Smith

1^st Ave. W. from W. Florentia to W. Newell

Florentia from 2^nd Ave. N. to Queen Anne Ave. N.

Fulton from 3^rd Ave. N. to 1^st Ave. W.

Armour from 3^rd Ave. N. to 1^st Ave. W.

Newell from 3^rd Ave. N. to Warren Ave. N.

Newell from 1^st Ave. N. to 1^st Ave. W.

Raye from 1^st Ave. N. to 1^st Ave. W.

1^st Ave. W. from W. Smith to W. Raye

2^nd Ave. W. from W. McGraw to W. Raye

3^rd Ave. W. from W. McGraw to W. Raye

4^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw Pl to W. Newell

5^th Ave. W. from W. Smith to the cemetery

W. McGraw Pl. from 4^th Ave. W. to 5^th Ave. W.

6^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to the cemetery

7^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to the cemetery

8^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to the W. Newell

9^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to the W. Newell

10^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to the W. Newell

W. Raye from 4^th Ave. W. to 10^th Ave. W.

W. Halladay from 6^th Ave. W. to 10^th Ave. W.

W. Wheeler from 7^th Ave. W. to 10^th Ave. W.

W. McGraw from 4^th Ave. W. to 10^th Ave. W.

W. Smith from Queen Anne Ave. N. to 7^th Ave. W.

W. Bothwell from 8^th Ave. W. to 9^th Ave. W.

General area north of W. Barrett in proximity of SPU

·     Hand writing the information on the door hangers was very time consuming and slowed down the process considerably.  Consider using adhesive backed labels to include the Pack website address for exposure.

·     Break area down into streets written on a sheet of paper and assign to volunteers.  Coordinator should keep record of all streets covered.

·     Know where we are going.  While we divided the area by dens and each den decided where and when to distribute door hangers, it was totally disorganized and very confusing.  In fact, we had to rely on people that distributed door hangers in a particular area to go back and collect donations because no one else knew what areas they covered.

·     Create a map showing where everyone is going.  Jim Grane which coordinated the event had the only overall map.  Would have been nice to see where the other groups were working.

·     Focus more on single family residences and less on apartment building.  On the north slope, tenants in apartment buildings tend to be mostly college students and did not participate much.

·     Focus more on flat streets due to the stamina of the boys.

·     Distribute door hangers on a weeknight.  A shorter soak might keep collection date in forefront on peoples minds versus distributing door hangers one week in advance.

·     Attach recruitment tag to door hangers.

·     Increase Pack participation or at least increase response either way to request for help.

Actual Budget:

(Income and expenditures)

None

2007 Event Chair:

Jim Grane

2007 Event Co-Chair:

Lessons Learned:

Date of Door Hanger Distribution:  3/24/07

Date of Donations Collection:  3/31/07

Total Door Hangers Distributed:  800

Total Numbers of Items Collected:  757

Total Weight of Items Collected:  820

Donations Delivered to:  Ballard Food Bank

Participants:  12 scouts, 11 adults and 2 siblings totaling 60 hours.

Area Covered:

1^st Ave. W. from McGraw to W. Raye

2^nd Ave. W. from McGraw to W. Raye

4^th Ave. W. from McGraw to W. Newell

5^th Ave. W. from McGraw to W. Newell

6^th Ave. W. from Galer to McGraw (had Troop 70 permission)

6^th Ave. W. from McGraw to the cemetery

7^th Ave. W. from Galer to McGraw (had Troop 70 permission)

7^th Ave. W. from McGraw to the cemetery

8th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to W. Newell

9^th Ave. W. from W. McGraw to W. Newell

9^th Ave. W. from Galer to McGraw (west side only at the split) (had Troop 70 permission)

10^th Ave. W. from Galer to McGraw (skipped apartment buildings) (had Troop 70 permission)

12^th Ave. W. from W. Bertona to Dravus

13^th Ave. W. from W. Bertona to Dravus

W. Bertona from 12^th Ave. W. to 13^th Ave. W.

Dravus from 12^th Ave. W. to 13^th Ave. W.

W. Halladay from 9^th Ave. W. to 7^th Ave. W.

W. Wheeler from 9^th Ave. W. to 7^th Ave. W.

·     Use of adhesive backed labels speeded up process dramatically.  Door hangers with adhesive backed labels were prepared in advance of the day the door hangers were distributed.

·     Donations filled back of pickup truck bed and required second vehicle to transport items to the food bank.

·     Be sure to have enough people at the food bank to help off load.

·     Those that helped deliver the donations got a tour of the Ballard Food Bank which showed them how their efforts will help others who are less fortunate.  This was a meaningful experience and we should try to arrange this ahead of time with whomever is receiving the donations.

·     Consider some way of using this project as a recruitment tool.

·     Consider leaving some type of thank-you note.

Actual Budget:

(Income and expenditures)

$24.00 for 2000 Avery 5161/8161 adhesive back labels (Staples brand)

2008 Event Chair:

John Hogan

2007 Event Co-Chair:

Lessons Learned:

Date of Door Hanger Distribution:  3/15/08

Date of Donations Collection:  3/22/08

Total Door Hangers Distributed: 

Total Numbers of Items Collected: 

Total Weight of Items Collected: 

Donations Delivered to: 

Participants: 

Area Covered:

·      

Actual Budget:

(Income and expenditures)