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The Boy Scout Slogan is “Do a Good Turn Daily.†The Scout Oath says “On my Honor, I will do my best… to help other people…†The Scout Law says that a Scout is “Helpful.†Rank Advancement requires Scouts to perform a given amount of service to give back to those who support our organization and to provide help to those less fortunate than ourselves.
Service to others and good citizenship is learned through such outdoor activities as conservation projects, collecting food, building trails and shelters, and conducting community service projects that promote healthy living. Through helping other people, Scouts learn to appreciate how they can share themselves and their blessings to those in need. By giving service to benefit others, Scouts gain a sense of personal satisfaction.
The time of service must be a minimum of one hour for Second Class and six hours for Star and Life ranks. This may be done as an individual project or as a member of Patrol or Troop project. Star and Life service projects may be approved for Scouts assisting on Eagle service projects. The Scoutmaster approves the project before it is started, and Scouts should keep records of their service hours so that they will count towards Rank Advancement.
Some Service Project Ideas:
- Build newspaper recycling boxes for an elementary school
- Landscape the church grounds, including shrubs, ground cover, and edging
- Collect pairs of used eye glasses for the Lions Club program for the needy
- Repair fencing and outdoor facilities at a church sponsored nursing home and organized a social function for the residents
- Built a foot bridge in a city park
- Built storage cabinets in Sunday School rooms
- Repair a local troubled Youth facility, inside and out, including woodwork, painting, carpeting
- Collect children's books and toys and setup a play area at a public hospital neighborhood clinic.
- Conduct a program for kindergarten children about dangers of abduction and fingerprinted them for their Parents
- Plant trees and placed boulders in a local park to stop off-roading vehicles from damaging grounds
- Build a nature trail and erosion dams in a city park
- Organize emergency response team for local red cross chapter
- Build historical display for local museum
- Paint100 picnic tables for local park district
- Clear 1 mile of vegetation for new nature/bicycle trail
- Build a conservation education display for nature center
- Recycle old bicycles for needy children
- Spring clean up campaign of local city parking lots
- Paint house and garage for the elderly
- Conduct community food pick up for local food pantry
- Organized community awareness campaign for donors and held blood drive
- Collected data and printed booklet for local historical hike
- Installed Braille stations on blind hiking trail at forest preserve
- Install erosion control bars and reshaped ground contours at park
- Produce and deliver church service audio tapes to shut-ins
- Painted curbside numbers for street addresses to help emergency services find houses easier
See Also
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 | | "So Much Concern" by Norman Rockwell |
"Yet one more item is needed to complete success, and that is the rendering of service to others in the community. Without this the mere satisfaction of selfish desire does not reach the top notch."
Lord Baden-Powell
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