Fwd: Popcorn Sale

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----- Forwarded message -----
From: "J.R. Brockman" <brock.man@comcast.net>
Date: Sun, Oct 31, 2010 10:44 pm
Subject: Popcorn Sale
To: "Alex Morrow" <ear-mlg@comcast.net>, "Beauvais, Darwin" <DBeauvais@klehr.com>, "Buck, Steve" <srb215@comcast.net>, "Livingston, Walt" <LivingW@amtrak.com>, "Sadler, Darnell" <darnellsadler75@yahoo.com>, "Stanley, Stephen" <pianki121@aol.com>, "Stanley, Stephen" <stephen.p.stanley@boeing.com>, "Walt Livingston - home" <wlivingston111@comcast.net>, "Weiss, Anthony" <aweiss@COLBSA.org>, "Williamson, Stephanie" <quietstuff@aol.com>, "Wilson, Joel" <joel@jcwcc.com>

Dear Leaders,

 

I want to thank you for all your help during our annual Popcorn Sale.  I cannot thank Mr. Walt Livingston our Treasurer and Popcorn Chair enough.  He did an outstanding job in what had to be our most difficult sale ever.  Under his leadership and guidance, we have hit a new high in terms of sales, breaking the $12,000.00 mark and with sales continuing it is conceivable that we could top $13,000.00.  This is truly remarkable and that is no understatement.

 

We remain the top seller in all of Triune District and we remain the champion for Popcorn selling in the city of Philadelphia.  This is a genuine notable achievement that all of us should be very proud of.  Unfortunately, we could have done better and if not reached our goal, succeeded by going past it.  Sadly some of our parents choose to not participate and as a result we had less parent participation than last year.  I do not have all of the answers, but I do have some. 

 

Despite this incredible success, reluctantly I must address the negative part of the sale and do so in a very pragmatic and business matter.  I had already come to the conclusion that popcorn selling was not in a long term future and that for the success of the program, we would have to move away from it and gravitate to other fundraising ideas. 

 

The ideas always flourish about what we can sell and using other methods, etc.  I have mine own ideas and I have been working on a long term plan to help us reach a sustainable way to fund our program and generate the kinds of funds that we enjoy through the Popcorn Sale.

 

I am not totally against the popcorn sale.  The program itself where we are able to sell with product in hand, generate funds for the council as well and bring in the amount of income we do is all very good.

Additionally, the sale is an excellent educational tool.  Our Scouts can learn first hand how to work and begin to earn your keep.

 

It you study all of the aspects of the popcorn sale, you will see it is an accurate depiction of our American business enterprise system and essentially, during that short period of time we run our very own business.  For many of us who grew up as consumers and especially for our youth, there are not many opportunities to learn how business operates.    

 

However, in doing the sale, there is a very demanding price of time and commitment and the support I believe we should have from the Council, Trails End, and our parents is not at the level it should be to alleviate many of the negative aspects of the sale itself.

 

Rather than go over the litany of complaints that you have heard from me before, I rather focus on the future.  We will not abandon the sale completely.  It is a council function and to support the council I believe we should do a sale.  My idea in the future is to do a very limited sale.  What does this mean?  It means rather than focus on the entire month of October , we would still ask individual Scouts to meet a modest goal of $50.00 to $100.00.  All sales would go into a Scout account, meaning each Scout would take advantage of what he sells.  Those funds could be use to pay off summer camp or a trip.  As a unit we would devote one weekend and our goal would be about $3500.00 and not $10K or $15K.

 

Then what would put in place of the popcorn sale?  That we would turn over to parents and a fundraising committee.  Additionally, we will look at our fee schedule and this may mean an increase in dues and other charges.  Financially challenged families would have to submit a formal request for assistance, to keep with our commitment to making Scouting accessible to all Scouts regardless of their financial circumstances at home.

 

We will look to have a meeting in the future to discuss what your ideas may be.  However, the idea will have to fit certain criteria, and I know it won’t be easy.  For example here are some things that we have to consider for a viable fundraiser and may be more than one, but not multiple plans.

 

            Fundraiser Criteria

 

            1.  Must raise between $5k and $10K.  This is relative to the amount of work.  For example a fund raiser that raises $2,500 and can be done in an afternoon and requires a small committee working is

            acceptable.

 

            2.  Must take up an inordinate amount of time.  Distracts little from the program.

 

            3.  Can be done by a committee of five to six parents maybe a more depending on the activity.

 

            4.  Is keeping inline with the BSA value system, e.g., no busses to A.C. 

 

 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

Yours in Scouting,

 

 

J.R. Brockman

Scoutmaster

Troop 133

609-381-9981

http://phillyscouts133.blogspot.com/