Celebrate Scouting Anniversary Week and Share the Scouting Story!

Scouting Anniversary Week (Feb 3 -9, 2008) is an excellent opportunity to highlight the many ways Scouting benefits the community. Your unit can do many things that week to highlight Scouting in your community…and share the Scouting story with community members.

With the national report of Good Turn for America service to be released in February, Scouting Anniversary Week is a prime time to remind everyone that Scouting IS service!

Highlight the results of your recent Scouting for Food drive, coat drives, trash collection—any service projects that happened during the past year in your unit. At the same time, kick off a new year of service by pledging to do a Good Turn for America project each quarter. You can even get a head start by signing up to participate in Goodwill / Good-Turn Day.

As part of the fun, have the youth in your unit pledge a certain number of community service hours, or announce a joint service effort with a chartering organization or local community service organization such as a food bank, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, etc. As part of your Anniversary Week celebration in 2007, calculate the number of hours and share it with your local media and community, and pat your youth on the back for a job well done!

• Scouting Anniversary Week: February 3-9, 2008
• Scout Sunday: February 3, 2008 / Scout Sabbath: February 9, 2008
• Goodwill / Good-Turn Day: March 1, 2008 (A Good Turn for America Service Project)

Scouting Anniversary Week Ideas for Units

Your unit committee can develop ways to promote Scouting Anniversary Week in your neighborhood. Youth who participate qualify for the free Anniversary Week patch. Suggestions include the following:

• Conduct a special service project during Scouting Anniversary Week to demonstrate both pride in America and pride in community. Focus on areas of hunger, homelessness, and healthy living and your project qualifies as a Good Turn for America project for which your Scouts can qualify for a Good Turn for America patch (at Scout Shops).
• Conduct a service project for your chartered organization as a way of thanking them for their support of Scouting. Churches often need lawn care and other service. Your local pastor will be very happy to accept service offerings.
• Hold a special flag-raising ceremony at a high-profile location in the community, or make a special presentation to the local school board, mayor, or city council. Invite chartered organizations, supporters, police, fire and rescue personnel, and government officials to participate.
• Have dens create birthday cards or handicraft items to display in school trophy cases, store windows, etc.
• Make appearances at worship services, service club programs, chartered organization events, parades, etc.
• Conduct unit family events such as blue and gold banquets, courts of honor, parents' nights, etc. and use these events to highlight the story of Scouting and the importance it has in a boy’s life, our communities, and our nation.
• Use this opportunity for packs and troops to work together. This will also provide Webelos Scouts with the opportunity to work with the troop they will be moving into.
• Ask parents to write letters to newspaper editors. Samples can be downloaded.
• Invite your local mayor to make a mayoral proclamation. Samples can be downloaded.

Recognition Item: Youth members qualify for a free Anniversary Week patch by participating in any of the above projects (or others created to serve the purpose of promoting Scouting during Anniversary Week). Just fill out the patch request form (on reverse) and return to the Volunteer Service Center.

List generated: May 17, 2008

To view these PDF files you need the free Adobe Acrobat Viewer