Fundraising for Charities (Salvation Army topic)
Bob Nieland (rgn@MCS.NET)
Fri, 6 Dec 1996 09:36:16 -0600
In the Salvation Army discussion, no one seems to have picked up on what
official BSA policy might have to say about this kind of activity.
We had been looking for a service project this fall. Our chartered
organization is involved with an organization called "Respite House", which
is planning to build temporary stay facilities for "medically fragile"
children (i.e. children who have a permanent medical condition that requires
24 hour medical supervision, but not necessarily hospitalization). Most of
these kids live at home, which puts a lot of strain on the family. The
Respite House concept is to give parents of these children a short break -
up to 2 weeks.
Because the primary need of the organization at this point is funding, we
had thought about organizing a fundraiser in which our Cub Scouts could be
involved. However, our District Executive found what appears to be an
official BSA Rule prohibiting Scouts from soliciting money for other not for
profits. The page she faxed to me is headed "Rules and Regulations, Article
IX." Section 2, Clause 1 on that page states:
"With the consent of the local council, members of the Boy Scouts of America
may cooperate with established non-partisan and nonsectarian national
movements for the relief of humanity in undertakings to raise money by
giving personal service, provided, however, that this shall not involve the
use of BSA youth members as collectors or solicitors of money."
The clause is written very awkwardly, and it wouldn't surprise me if it
originally ended with the word "money" (allowing the practice with local
council approval), but was subsequently changed to prohibit fundraising for
others. I wonder if someone who knows a lot about the history of BSA (MAJ
Mike?) could comment on the rule (e.g., how, when, why it was
included/changed, what it's intended to mean, etc.).
Bob Nieland
Committee Chairman, Cub Scout Pack 101
Naperville, Illinois
http://www.pack101.org/
mailto:rgn@mcs.net
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