83Eagle

Anybody use store cards like a walmart gift card? You can buy anything you would need at walmart, so I've heard. Give someone who is in charge of an event a $100 walmart card, ask for receipts, turn in the card afterward.

All I want is a system that is transparent and easy to use. Something that lets us run the program all the leaders decide to do. Right now we plan and budget for events, leaders spend a lot of their own money on stuff, then every 6 months or so our committee chair wanders into a meeting and wonders how we could have possibly spent $50 on supplies for some event and why is so-and-so getting "a big check from the pack."

If we had a system where leaders never had to spend their own money up front, at least when we got the occasional proctology exam we would eliminate the second part.

I'm wondering if we can get a prepaid, or purchase-limited, debit card of some sorts. Plastic is the best solution here that I can see but there is no way a regular card would fly.

I like the debit card idea, I really do.

However, I can also tell you that if we brought it up at a committee meeting, the CC would freak out.

Here's how the conversation would likely go:

"You mean that someone could take the debit card and go buy ANYTHING they wanted at the store?"

"Well, I suppose so, but we need to trust our leaders, we have rules and procedures in place regarding expenses, and we'd have an audit trail by virtue of receipts and bank statements."

"But that's after the fact. What would PREVENT someone from stealing?"

"Ummmm....nothing but their morality?"

I'm pretty sure it would go down this way because I had the exact same discussion with the CC a while back when I was named CM and I needed to get paperwork signed to put me and our new advancement coordinator on the scout shop account so that we could charge badges etc. against the Pack credit.

It was just like that..."What's to prevent you from going in and buying whatever you want?" Ummm...nothing, but our treasurer does get the scout shop statements each month...

You get the picture? Our CC is completely disengaged from the Pack, and when the CC does get engaged there is a complete level of distrust. Which is a whole 'nuther situation altogether that I don't want to get into here.

So the genesis of this question is that it's a real pain to get a check from the treasurer for a bunch of piddly expenses from different stores. On the other hand, when we use our own funds and then turn in reimbursements later, the CC doesn't like the fact that so-and-so got "a big check from the pack."

Clearly, there are bigger problems here but that is just the backstory.

For purposes of practicality, and since I need to operate within the pack as it is structured, I'm trying to find a "better way" of handling expenses that I can propose to the committee/treasurer.

I'm looking for procedure that charges purchases DIRECTLY to the unit without having to get a bunch of different checks from the treasurer made out to numerous different vendors.

I can tell you right now, getting a pack debit card would not fly! But it would sure make things easy.

I am familiar with PayPal because I use it personally, but I don't understand the process for tying that into the pack checking account.

This question pertains to our Pack but I'll put it in the general section because it could apply to eiter a Pack or Troop I think.

How do you handle program expenses where it's not practical to get a check from the treasurer beforehand?

Two situations:

1. The usual meeting supplies--crafts, decorations, whatever. The Leader Handbook talks about a petty cash fund but we haven't gone that route. It's just easier to use my own plastic and submit the receipts later. But I've never liked that approach--I just don't like getting a check made payable to me by the unit even though I have the docs to support it.

2. Online or other purchases where you can't use a unit check.

I think the split could work next year. I am wondering about this year. Is a per boy or per den budget fair? Or maybe per boy with a minimum per den?

Some dens do dues but the leaders are looking now and saying, hey we have more money now.

I realize this should probably be a committee decision but we don't have a properly functioning pack committee so our leaders just all agree on what to do.

Historically dens have not gotten funding from our pack due to budget realities. However, a very successful fundraiser this year got the leaders thinking about whether/how to give the dens a budget.

We're not sure how to do best do this because of the wide range in numbers of boys between ranks. For instance we have only two tigers, but 16 4th grade webelos.

So for example, a fixed amount per den would mean much more to the tigers than it would to the webelos. $30, for instance, could go a long way with two boys but not far with 16.

On the other hand, a per-boy amount, which is fair, is going to put a lot more of the pack budget into one particular rank. So, a $10/boy budget would put $20 into the tigers but $160 to the webelos.

How do you deal with this?

To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government.

Lincoln the Libertarian....now who woulda thunk that OWS was all about LESS government!

It's incredible how the common denominator in every situation like this described in these forums, boy scout or cub scout, are parents.

The prices are actually very similar. Unpopped corn is actually more than TE (although I don't have the TE weight offhand). Microwave is very similar--$16 here vs. $18 TE. The chocolate lovers is actually more expensive than anything on the TE order form (highest TE product is $40).

Basement you are missing the difference between earning and being nominated for an award.

The knots, at least the leader knots, are essentially training awards with distinct requirements...do five of the following seven things, etc. They do not require nomination but they do require approval. So it is perfectly appropriate to submit the form when you have completed the requirements.

For an award that requires nomination, it is inappropriate to nominate yourself or have a buddy nominate you.

You could do with a lot less judgmental attitude in your post. Robert what you are doing is completely appropriate and part of the reason for the knots--to encourage training, retention, etc.(This message has been edited by 83eagle)

I just assumed the Bad Idea girl was a a venture scout.

Hmmm...I saw this thread as light hearted banter so I didn't get my tutu all in a wad about it.

I will say that I enjoy the Bad Idea ads, so I think it would be a Bad Idea to do anything to stop those ads from propagating onto my screen. So here's one more for the search engines: bad idea!

That would be a Bad Idea...

This discussion is incredible.

The joining requirements start with the phrase "Be a boy..." Last time I checked, gender was determined by biology. Call me a Luddite I guess...

Might as well call everybody the It Scouts and shove em all together under the same umbrella...

How do you explain to these parents that this scout has Autism and that he is not spoiled ...I do feel the need to defend this mom and her son's honor.

I don't believe it is your responsibility to explain this to other parents or defend this particular mom/scout. Unless mom tells you otherwise I would treat any information about the son's condition as you would any other confidential medical/physical/emotional/developmental condition. Obviously after 6 years of being around other people with her son, the mom is aware of how others view things and will make her own decisions around the course of action she wants to take.

With that said, it is appropriate to reach out to the family and ask if there is anything they would like you to do.

I'm going to say something that is probably going to come off as insentive to some, but I do think it's reasonable for the rest of the parents to be frustrated about the disruptions in the meeting. You mentioned you thought it was "cool" but obviously not every parent feels that way. And the Pack is more than just one scout, it is all the scouts and all the families. We have had scouts with various degrees of autism, Asbergers, etc., in our Pack and I will say there is a wide range of parenting styles around boys with these challenges, from those who took a very active role, to those would make little effort to be engaged.

My disclaimer was not directed at you Ea. "Here" means these forums in general, much like the regular scouting world where BS and CS volunteers mix and Cub Scouting is the red headed stepchild.

My point is that the outdoor program I see, I like, and is stronger than what I personally experienced over a quarter century ago. Whether that reflects on the inadequacies of my youth experience or an improvement in the program in general I can't say. But again for me the glass is half full.

I know that as primarily a cub scout leader my opinion doesn't mean a lot here, but I just don't see the demphasization of outdoors in the program. Perhaps my going through the program in the 70s-80s, when I don't recall ever having to set up a tent, I am impressed at just how much activity and opportunity is out there. Certainly at the CS level we never ventured outdoors let alone went camping. Many a bookwork meeting in the Den Mothers home, and many a boring merit badge class at the high school cafeteria as a Boy Scout.

When I see what is on our affiliated troop's calendar and see what the boys know and do I am impressed. But then again I have not been doing this for 30 years I guess.

I have nothing to back this feeling up, but I also get the sense that an awareness and appreciation of the outdoors by youth today is greater than what it had been in the past.

Membership numbers don't lie, I guess, but I see the glass as half full, if not moreso.

"local cache reviewer"???? No such animal in these woods.

Yes there is although he or she might not be truly local. Every cache goes through a review process before it is published at geocaching.com. (If you are using another cache-listing site, that will be different.)

From geocaching.com, search for caches nearest to your location. Look at the logs on the caches and find the very first one which will read simply "Published." That log will have a geocaching ID associated with it. Click on that ID to find contact information.

Trust me, particularly if your cache is remote and hard to fix once you have it out there, submitting the approximate coordinates to the reviewer ahead of time will save you a lot of headaches. Chances are if it is remote and on public land it will be OK but it's well worth the extra effort before paddling out.

Just my 2 cents from someone who has put out a fair number of T5 kayak caches....

Most people who have been caching for a while don't care about the swag and high D/T caches tend to attract experienced cachers looking for the challenge of the hunt rather than what they find in the box.

Instead, I would consider some personally crafted memento for finders, and perhaps an unactivated geocoin for the first finders.

Most important, get your proposed spot checked by your local cache reviewer so you don't have to go back out there to move it, and br sure you choose a container that is weatherproof and well secured.

Four of five of our dens have den flags. The dens make them as they see fit.

For the tigers I used a 5 foot dowel and white canvas. I printed and ironed on the tiger logo, and the boys and parents put their hand prints on it.

In the past my sons den has made tie dyed tshirts as den class Bs. This was a huge hit. While the shirts were in the dye bath we tied up white canvas and used that for a matching den flag. Yellow for wolf, blue for bear. Haven't figured out how to do plaid tie dye though.

Since we use the standard flag ceremony with four-boy color guard for our pack flag ceremony, having a den flag along with an American flag helps the dens practice the ceremonies in their den as well.

Most problems are best solved by starting with the three words, "Got a minute?"

SMB I think you have your answer in your last post. The boys are yearning to do boy scout things while the parents are concerned with pomp and circumstance. So....

We never used to do the red vest thing in our pack until some boys transferred in who had them. Now we do and the boys love them. And we give patches for everything except tying your shoes. They love them, and cub scouting is about the boys. They are our clientele.

If they are disappointed when they join boy scouts it is not our fault. As webelos we tell them no one is going to be after them for earning things in boy scouts. Hopefully they listen and also learn that through their troop visits where they see the differences between pack and troop meetings and activities.

It is also incumbent on the boy scout troop leaders to explain how things work in the troop. As I've said here many times, it is not Cub Scoutings fault if boys do not like/are disappointed with the boy scout program, or with a particular troop.