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Secrets to
Successful Service
Projects
by Dave Tracewell
Senior Editor
You’ve decided to have your troop or pack get involved in a service project for
your community. Now, all you have to figure out is how to convince the Scouts that
it’s not only the Scout thing to do, but they are going to like it, and that they
will actually have fun. That’s a tall order, but with a little planning, and a little
help, your unit can tackle just about anything and come away excited and proud.
Planning a service project that has impact is challenging. No matter how they look at
it, the Scouts just see it as unpaid work. However, once you add some pizazz and fun, even
traditional service projects like highway & street clean ups, Scouting for Food, and
aluminum can drives, can take on new life. The key with any service project is to make
sure it has the five basic elements:
Making it Have Impact
The Scouts and other adult leaders need to know that what they are doing
matters, and the project should have a very real impact on your community. Choose projects
that make a difference and help your Scouts measure the impact that the project has had,
either through raised awareness for a cause or by other means.
- Create a 1 mile pile during your next highway clean-up. Make an exhibit out of the
junk and debris you’ve collected, and display it at your school or library. While
you’re doing the project, have Woodsy Owl there with you, holding signs that say
“Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute!” – cars will honk as they go by! You can
also have your Scouts make up signs that state, “How much trash in a mile?”
You’ll increase litter awareness.
Making it Meaningful
You must make the service project meaningful to the participants. Scouts have
to be enthusiastic about the work they are doing, and need to relate to the value of their
work. Projects that show immediate results from effort are a great way to build excitement
for the service.
- Your Scouts can help out at a soup kitchen, or collect coats and blankets for a
homeless shelter. If the Scouts themselves could actually hand out the coats and blankets,
or the meals, the project can have much deeper impact. Your Scouts will be directly
meeting and helping those in need, and will hear their appreciation
- Have your Scouts create a Sidewalk of Life with custom made bricks. Pick a charity or
cause to support, have people buy a brick with their name engraved into it, and use the
brick in the sidewalk. Have your Scouts get involved with the laying of the bricks. They
can point to this project for years to come with pride and see immediately the fruit of
their efforts.
Making it Permanent
People like to see the fruits of their labors, no matter how small. And real
gratification can come many years later by revisiting the site of the service and seeing
the long term effects. Your service project should have some permanence to it. Whether it
is planting a tree or building a sidewalk, people should be able to look back at what was
done and say “I was a part of that.” Another variety of permanence can be
achieved through repetition and building a tradition around a project. Doing the same
service every year (or several times a year), will result in your troop becoming known for
that particular project and its impact. That’s a way to bring permanent impact to a
project not otherwise easily measured for its permanence.
- Plant a new tree in your community park for every new boy who joins the troop and
obtains Tenderfoot. Over the years, your grove will become quite large, and it will be
exciting to adults in the community to visit and show off the tree that was planted when
they joined the Scout troop.
- Do a color guard and flag ceremony every time there’s a parade, or an important
event. People will start expecting to see your Troop. Make sure your Scouts are dressed
neatly in full uniform. Make them feel important. Don’t forget to submit pictures and
a news release to the local media.
Making it Known
Any service project you do deserves attention. Scouts and leaders like to be
recognized for the volunteer work they do, and deservedly so. Make sure all service
projects get the proper recognition.
- Send out press releases to local newspapers and television about upcoming service
projects. After the project, send a report and pictures.
- Keep a scrap book of all unit activities and show it off at Courts of Honor, Scout
Shows, and special events.
- Get local businesses to give window space for posters about your event.
- Have a display of Troop Service Projects during Scout Week at your local library.
- Get local businesses or radio stations to help sponsor your event. Ask your
sponsoring organization to help you with the event.
Make it FUN!
Probably the most important ingredient to a successful service project is to
make it fun. This will keep your Scouts interested and coming back for more each time
it’s done. This can also be one of the more challenging goals, but with a little
ingenuity, enthusiasm, and innovation, any project can be made to be fun.
- Here’s another interesting twist for your blood drive: hold it during Halloween
and have your Scouts dressed up as vampires. Hold a haunted house at the same time with
people giving blood as one of the exhibits.
- Have your Scout unit or district make a series of totem poles or spirit poles with
local high school mascot, Lions, Moose, Rotary, or other service organizations emblem,
city seal, etc.
All of the service projects listed portray elements, to some degree, of all 5
ingredients. Being innovative and creative with any project helps to keep it from becoming
a dull and tedious task. Letting the boys be involved, making them work hard to make it a
success, then giving them recognition and credit for what they’ve done will make them
proud of their involvement in Scouting.
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