Re: A question for c...

Jim Carter - HCI Project <hci@SKDAD.USASK.CA> wrote:

>Where I object is
>making up special fund raising patches. If something is needed to add to
>the fundraising appeal - PLEASE put a regular patch in a frame with a
>certificate of acknowledgement - but don't make two classes of patches
>(those that are earned and those that are just bought).

Actually, the more I think about this, the more I disagree. I would much
rather see patches that are bought labeled as such so that we know which is
which. Those people that pay for events to happen are JUST as important as
those who volunteer their time to get the kids out and make the events
happen. I don't see why anyone would want to downplay this essential part of
Scouting(fundraising) to something hung on a wall, not worn on a uniform.

In the US, the money is often more important than the program. For example,
the average BSA summer camp does fine financially. The problem usually sets
in when the year is taken as a whole. Of my council's two camps, one loses
$30,000.00 annually, the other is supported by a foundation that donates
$15,000.00 per year(this would otherwise be a loss to the Council. In order
to make the Summer Camp program work, that lost money needs to be made up
somewhere. We certainly can't pass it on to the youth who go to camp, the
cost would be too prohibitive for anyone to go. We can't expect the leaders
who go to camp with the boys to make it up, they are already giving enough
through their time(using vacation time and time away from their families).

Now, the more I think about it, the more I really like the James E. West
Fellowship Award AND especially its related uniform knot. At least I know
what that knot represents and the dedication to Scouting's future that the
wearer has. Whether they paid the money themselves, or secured it from
another source, these people do what allows the program to happen.

Jim Miller, Jr.

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