FUND RAISING

Even though the camporee and its line-up of programs and activities is an incredible value if you compare its cost to a traditional summer camp, coming up with the funds can still be a hardship for many young families. Therefore, many cadet clubs look for ways to lower the cost of attending. One strategy is to begin your fundraising early. If you spread out the work of organizing fundraising events and activities, it will not seem too daunting a task.

 

What Type of Fundraisers?

Many clubs have found that a team effort is most effective — projects where the boys work together to raise money. Having boys go individually, selling something door to door, is unfortunately, a safety issue in today's world. Consider combining your fundraising with some type of community service project. Often times local businesses will sponsor your club as it plants flowers in a local park or removes trash from a vacant lot. Sponsor a "tailgate party" in the church parking lot on a Saturday afternoon and invite the community to join you for burgers and hot dogs. How about getting "sponsors" for your pinewood derby races. Tell local businesses you will put an advertisement along the track for their financial help. If you have a fundraiser that has worked well for your club, share it with us through our guestbook and we'll list it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BE PREPARED • BE PREPARED • BE PREPARED

Unlike many campouts you may have attended and campouts that other boys clubs sponsor, the Cadet International Camporee is a TRUE WILDERNESS CAMP. What does that mean? That means it is critical that the boys who attend have the necessary skills to build their own shelter and cook their own food. It is the responsibility of every attendee's home club counselor to make sure that they are PROFICIENT AT EVERTHING that is part of the Camporee Certification award.

 

The most frequent complaint of camporee cadre counselors is that the boys they have in their cadre may be wearing the camporee certification patch but they cannot demonstrate the skills they supposedly learned. In order for the camporee to be a great experience for EVERYONE that attends — the qualifications need to be followed.

 

A good way to make sure your boys are ready for the camporee is to prepare well in advance of the camporee and then occasionally review the material. A weekend "crash course" in the information just prior to the camporee is a poor training system — if that is the only training the boy receives.

 

Suggestion: Make one of your campouts this year a "survival" campout. Require that each boy build his own small shelter, build his own cook fire, and then cook his own food for his meals. Often times when the camporee certification material is taught, it is taught using a "team" approach which can allow boys to slip through the training by relying on his buddy to know the lashing segment or cooking segment. Here is a link to the catalog information on the Camporee Certification Course The Camporee Certification Award includes completing the Camporee Certification Course. earning these merit badges: Camp Cooking, Knots and Lashing, Axemanship, and Fire Building or in place of the four R•P•B badges -- the Woodsman Guide Trail.