09/08/2023
An Open Letter to the Community
This will be my first academic year without any of the scout families that I inherited. When my family joined the pack in 2019, there were about 30 children. In a pack of that size, it is easier for new families to become acclimated with Scouting. Unlike other youth activities like sports and martial arts, it is not just a select few parents who instruct the youth. In Scouting, we need parents to run dens, manage events and coordinate fundraising, among other things. Not every parent is expected to become a rostered leader, but every parent is expected to contribute to the pack. Many hands make light work. When you join a “healthy” pack, you see this in action and it easier for new parents to accept that they expected to contribute.
The pack was able to survive the pandemic with some of the existing scouts; however, the pack shrank as we enrolled no new scouts in 2020 or 2021 and watched our fifth-graders graduate to Boy Scouts in 2021 and 2022.
Last school year was my first full academic year as Cubmaster, and we enrolled five new boys. We had a Tiger Den (1st Grade), Wolf Den (2nd Grade) and AOL Den (5th grade). I felt responsible for giving the families the Cub Scout experience that I think they deserve, and I shouldered much of the planning and ex*****on for much of the year. I relied heavily on my AOL families and I am immensely grateful to the new families whose parents have contributed the pack either through accepting leadership positions, donating food to events, assisting with a fundraiser, or reviewing flyers.
Looking forward to this year, we have a den leader for the Bears (3rd grade). Unfortunately, the parent who served as the Tiger Den Leader last year may not be able to continue this year as Wolf Den Leader due to his work schedule.
Traditionally, we have set dues higher (last year dues were $325 for a new scout, of which the pack collected $135). We were able to augment our programming with the proceeds of a car wash the previous June and through our fall fundraiser where we sold nuts. The pack also has a policy that parents who serve as rostered leaders need to pay for themselves as well. Unfortunately, for this school year, adults who will serve as rostered leaders will need to pay $103. Again, the pack will see none of this money. For new families who are joining the pack, we will need to register adults as Den Leaders for any children in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 4th Grade, and 5th Grade.
This year, we are trying a new approach to make Scouting more affordable. The cost for a new child to join Cub Scouts is $200. The pack will see none of this money. The pack collected $200+ from our car wash in June, which will go towards this year’s programming, and we will be selling nuts in the fall. This will be the primary source of funds for our programming. If need be, we will conduct an additional fundraiser in the winter and then hold our car wash again towards the end of the program year.
The pack has established a budget of $2,750 which will allow me to provide a basic level of programming. Ideally, we will generate the $2,750 through our fall fundraiser, and the additional fundraisers will be required to reach the $2,750 goal to provide that basic level of programming. Any funds above the $2,750 can be applied to additional programming, uniform costs, and adult fees.
It is entirely possible for one child to bring in $2,750 into the pack. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to fundraising and there are incredible stories from nearby packs, in rural areas nonetheless (e.g. Lancaster), that bring in $10,000 or more from their fall fundraiser.
At a minimum, it is important to me as Cubmaster to not have to ask parents to pay for the right to volunteer, and so I hope that we can conclude this academic year with enough funds left over to at least partially offset the adult fees for next academic year (24-25). Additionally, since I’m thinking about it, we have an overnight trip planned for September 2024 aboard the USS Constitution in Boston!
Pack 9 will be conducting fall recruitment on September 20th at Abby Kelley Foster Charter School playground. The children will be engaged in activities while the adults will have an opportunity to ask questions about the pack, meet other prospective families and learn about Scouting. Registrations will be due by the end of October, which will give families up to a month to try out the pack before committing.
In the meantime, the Pack will have a tent at stART on the Street on September 17th. I’ll be there all day.
I can be reached at 508-353-8213 or at [email protected]. The pack’s email address is [email protected]
Yours in Scouting
Cubmaster Tim
