Eagle Scout of the 1990 Handbook Era returns

[GabeTheRockStar 10]

Hi,

 

I am Gabe. I earned my Eagle Scout in San Jose, California with Troop 287. If any of the green and gold are reading this, hey, you've got the goods! Anyway, by way of Virginia, Washington, D.C., and now Kentucky, I come with a question.

 

I want to set up a program for scouts to spend time earning their citizenship merit badges and community service hours volunteering for state political races and GOTV (get out the vote) drives. I am professionally in a great position to do this, but I need some advice.

 

I have read some online discussion that says partisan volunteer hours can't be used for rank advancement. But this seemed like it was just one opinion amongst many, and I am interested to find out more. One of my best Eagle buddies from Alabama says no. But my younger brother ran ten or eleven precincts for one of the parties for his Eagle project. He says that was approved, on the basis that it was volunteer work for a non-profit. But that was a few years ago, and I want to find out the official word before I waste a bunch of 13-year-olds' time.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thanks

 

g

[EagleInKY 14]

Welcome to Kentucky rock star! (We don't get many of you here). With your background, I'm wondering if you are in Frankfort. Possibly part of the new administration?

 

I'd love to chat with you about the opportunities to expose some of my guys to government at a "real" level. We've got several guys working on Citizinship merit badges right now. Perhaps there's a way to get in a field trip....

 

But,to your question. I think it is okay for scouts to volunteer time for non-partisan GOTV campaigns. I would even sign off on that as service hours. It's possible that it could even be an Eagle Project for someone. I'm not a District Advancement Chairman, so I'm not sure how these types of projects would be received.

 

I must admit, I'd have a hard time approving partisan political activities for service hours. Maybe it's the deep divide we have in our political system today. The way I see it, about 40% of the people are not going to like what you did, whichever side you work on. So, why alienate a big group. Go the non-partisan route if you are going to do something political in scouts.

 

From a legal point of view, I'm not sure if we can do it anyway. Since most units are "owned" by non-profit chartered organizations, we have to live by the non-profit laws. These include not endorsing political candidates. It's probably a gray area, but not one I'd want to wade into.

[GabeTheRockStar 10]

Hey, thanks for your input. Where is your troop located? We might be able to work together on something.

 

Good guess, but I am actually in Lousiville. I'll explain my position in more detail. My job is unrelated. I work for a nonprofit as a field rep, which is what brings me to Kentucky this fall. My job doesn't provide much that would help scouts.

 

On the side I am a volunteer organizer with a grassroots group and I have a list of candidates for whom I'm supposed to find more volunteers. Since my first post, I have spoken with a couple Eagles, and my conclusion is that it simply has to be for a non-profit. My brother ran his precincts for the Republicans, and it was approved because the party is non-profit (not sure if that is in reference to the national party or the local). My point is, the grassroots work we do is non-profit, and not associated with either party.

 

While I'm sure there will be GOTV work to do too, I think I have a good case for any district advancement chair for candidate work too. We'll see.

 

My main concern is that if I get scouts involved, they (1) learn more than I did when I did my citizenship badges, and (2) that it really helps the scouts advance. So if I do get scouts helping, I will have a unique motivation to discuss the things they need to discuss in order to pass their badges. Do I need to register with BSA to be a counselor? If so, I'd love to sign up. More feedback is welcome. I will move this to a more relevant forum if I don't get any though, so keep your eyes peeled if you have any interest in getting some great service hours for your troop.