Ideas for pack money-earning projects

IN our March-April issue, Pack Committee Chair P.B. requested some good ideas for the pack’s money-earning projects. Readers offered an assortment of success stories.

Illustration by Bill Basso

When we graduated nine Webelos Scouts into Boy Scouting last February, we were left with only 10 Cub Scouts, making money-earning difficult. A local Scout troop was successful in raising funds by collecting bottles and aluminum cans for redemption, so we decided to try it.

We got donations of plywood, lumber, and hardware for a redemption box into which bottles and cans could be placed. We built the box and were given permission to set it up in the parking lot of a local restaurant.

The task of periodically taking the cans and bottles to be redeemed at the local package store is divided among the dens. We have an incentive program so that dens whose boys and parents do the work will be given a percentage for den activities.

Pack Committee Chairman V.J.
Saranac, N.Y.


At the blue and gold banquet this year, we had an auction of cakes baked by fathers and sons. We had ribbons for the best cakes in three categories, and all who took part received a patch.

Everyone had a ball trying to buy back his own cake. We raised almost $200 for the pack.

Cubmaster K.C.
Manistee, Mich.


Our pack holds an annual all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. At our last one, in March, we made more than $1,000.

With council approval, we get donations of food, paper goods, and money from local restaurants, markets, and other businesses. The Cub Scouts sell tickets to their families, friends, and neighbors for $10 per family and $3 per individual. Everybody considers it a bargain, and we have repeat customers every year.

The parents do the cooking and boys serve the food. Every boy who sells tickets receives a prize (also donated), with special awards going to top money-earners.

Webelos Den Leader C.D.
Moorpark, Calif.


For the last two years, our pack has held a cake auction, with cakes baked and decorated by Cub Scouts with the help of dads or other family members. On pack meeting night, the cakes are separated into categories, such as Cub Scout themes, Sports, Patriotic, Delicious, and Outrageous.

A “silent auction” bid sheet is placed next to each cake. During the evening, the families write their bids. Toward the end of the meeting, the five or six cakes that are getting the most bids are put into a live auction. The bidding usually gets very exciting, with bids as high as $40.

With a pack of about 60 Cub Scouts, we have raised more than $600 each year at our cake auctions. It is a very fun and painless way to help meet our financial needs.

Den Leader A.C.
Alamo, Calif.


Selling Christmas wreaths is a good project that has financed most costs for two troops I’ve been involved with. We make $5 to $7 per sale. You’ll often find advertisements for wreath sales right here in Scouting magazine.

R.K. Sr.
Tallahassee, Fla.


Our troop’s money-earner for summer camp is selling pizza kits. They are kits for unbaked pizzas, breadsticks, and cheese bread. We take orders and collect the money in advance.

My son is involved this year for the first time. He earns $5 per kit sale, which goes into his Scout bank account for camping. He needed $250 for summer camp and two weekend camp-outs, and he earned $175 toward it in two weeks. It’s a great way for Scouts to earn money.

P.N.
Dearborn, Mich.


Every year our troop sells Christmas trees, wreaths, and handmade bows. We order our trees from North Carolina and take orders for them in advance. We get them in during Thanksgiving week, and, if any are left over, we set them up in front of a store and sell them. Our Scouts make a card that they sign to go with our trees and wreaths.

We also have an annual rummage sale, with profits going into the accounts of Scouts who work at the sale.

Troop Treasurer C.A.S.
Venice, Fla.


Our pack’s popcorn sales soared when we offered incentive gifts to our top salesmen. We also have bake sales at holidays and do an aluminum can drive in the spring. These money-earners have kept our pack solvent.

Pack Committee Chairman L.G.
Cook, Minn.


One of our pack’s most profitable – and fun – money-earners is our participation in the Mission Hills Gypsy Flea Market in El Paso. We rent booth space for $25 and can sell anything from crafts to rummage sale items. We found that this is a great way to get parents of new Cub Scouts involved.

The Cub Scouts help during the two weeks before the sale, rounding up items. Families donate household items and clothing for the rummage sale.

On flea market day, we are all decked out in gypsy costumes. We only sell from 8 a.m. to noon, because we have found that serious shoppers are finished by midday.

Items that are left over are given to the El Paso Rescue Mission, so we don’t have to haul unused items back home. In the past we have earned an average of $800 for the four-hour sale.

Pack Committee Chairman L.T.
El Paso, Tex.


Every October our pack holds a somewhat unusual garage sale. Rather than depending only on parents and friends to donate things to sell, we ask people in our neighborhood who have had garage sales in the previous two months to donate their leftovers to us. Volunteers distribute a flier asking for the donations, and we guarantee to pick them up.

A neighborhood self-storage center gives us storage space (as a donation or at a sharply reduced fee). Members of our sale committee have keys to the storage units.

We hold the sale over a Friday and Saturday at a historic building known as Scout Hall, which is used by all Scouting units. We transport all the items to the hall on Thursday and Friday morning. The police provide extra patrols so that we don’t have to store it all inside again.

Last year we made $1,900-plus through this method.

Pack Treasurer M.J.M.
St. Petersburg, Fla.

 


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