INCREASE MEMBERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
 Recruiters in the Heart of America
Council of Kansas City, Missouri, won’t
take no for an answer. If they can’t
promote Cub Scouting in classrooms,
they visit cafeterias and bus-loading
zones. If those areas are off limits, they
put up yard signs. If all else fails, they
mail promotional DVDs directly to
families of Cub Scout–age boys. Each
DVD comes with a packet of Trail’s End
popcorn, a list of school night
locations, and a letter from Scout
Executive Tim Bugg.
“We say, ‘Pop the popcorn, pop in the
DVD, then sit down as a family and
watch this brief video,’” Bugg said.
Innovations like that are just one part
of the council’s school night program.
At each of the council’s 505
elementary schools, trained district
and council volunteers give tightly
scripted presentations that stress both
the fun and the benefits of Scouting.
“The objective is to sell fun to the boys
and sell values to the parents,
particularly the mothers,” said Bruce
Allen, council vice president for
membership.
That approach pays off. Allen said, 88
percent of boys who attended school
nights last fall joined Scouting that
night. All but one pack recruited
enough den leaders at school night to
begin meeting.
 The council’s plan includes one more
key feature: a family campout in each
district. More than 5,000 Cub Scouts
and their families attended these
outings in 2007. They broughtwhatever camping gear they had—
from pup tents to recreational
vehicles—and took home memories
of just how much fun Scouting can be.
Scouting is more than just fun for
some Scouts in Lake Charles,
Louisiana. It’s an escape from the
bleak surroundings in Crying Eagle
Village, the FEMA trailer park where
they live.
The city’s most dangerous
neighborhood, Crying Eagle Village is
home to some 1,200 evacuees from
Hurricane Rita. Since the fall of 2006, it
has also been home to a Cub Scout
pack, a Boy Scout troop, and a
Venturing crew. Each Thursday, the
Scouts come outside to tie knots,
practice compass skills, and play—all
under the protection of armed guards.
“They’re kept inside a good bit
because of security reasons,” said
Legare Clement, Scout executive of
the Calcasieu Area Council. “This is
their time to get out, run around, and
basically be boys.”
The Scouts also participate in fishing
trips, day hikes, and summer camp—
all at no cost to their families. “The
council came up with the money to
send the boys to camp; they really got
out and hustled,” said Order of the
Arrow lodge adviser Ernest Maggiore,
who has brought Scout volunteers to
work at the trailer park.
When boys leave Crying Eagle Village,
the council works to keep them in
Scouting. “We told them when they
were moving who was in the area they
could go talk to,” Maggiore said.
But even those who haven’t left the
trailer park are benefiting from
Scouting. One boy in an alternative
school was allowed to return to his
regular school after attending Scout
camp. He’s now behaving in school,
making good grades, playing
football—and coming to Scouts every
Thursday.
“I’ve worked for the Scouts for 16 years
in four states,” Clement said. “This is
the most significant thing I’ve done in
that time. It really is an amazing
program.” |