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Make sure to designate your popcorn purchase to support the LOS ANGELES AREA COUNCIL. The council's 2008 Order Key is: TEJ9XK6
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why sell popcorn?
Simple: you can make a LOT of money for your unit. There are many other reasons but that's really the main one. The 2007 popcorn sale was the most successful in council history and our units earned $100,000 in commissions! With the springboard from this last fall, the sale should go through the roof and your unit should be part of it!
How does the Boy Scout Popcorn fit the mission and aims of the BSA?
When we conduct a Unit-Money Earning Project it is important that we keep the values of Scouting in mind. One of the goals of Scouting is to teach a Scout to become self-reliant and to earn his own way. Through a proper money-earning project, leaders have the opportunity to show Scouts how they, through their individual and combined efforts, can earn all the money it takes to operate their pack, troop, team or crew for the entire year. The only limiting factor is their level of participation.
Many times, we hear of potential money-earning projects that rely heavily on the leaders or parents and very little on the Scouts. Other times we hear of projects that rely on the good name of Scouting to promote a commercial project or service. Many times, "the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time" is a signal that it MAY not be the best fit for Scouting--if we're going to view it as another opportunity to instill values in the young people we serve.
Please review the chart below that shows the types of lessons we teach when we choose one type of money-earning project or another. Then, give careful though as you consider what and how your unit will generate the necessary funds to operate.
| When a Unit Chooses to: |
Here's what we teach the Scouts: |
Conduct a money-earning project that relies much more heavily on adult participation than to that of the Scouts. |
Someone else will do the work for me. |
| Rely on generous financial support of individuals, service clubs, chartered partners, etc. just to "make the budget." |
Let's look for a handout for what we want. |
| Assess a "program fee" on families or to collect the "weekly" dues in one lump sum at the beginning of the month or year. |
I'll look to mom and dad--again--for money to do the things I want. |
| Offer to have parents donate extra money rather than deal with "another door-to-door sale." |
I don't have to work for what I want, there's always another way. |
We have failed to teach the Scouts the value of self-reliance: |
| But, if the Unit chooses to: |
Then, we can teach a Scout: |
| Conduct a product sale with goals and projected use of the funds clearly explained before the sale begins. |
By my efforts and those of my fellow Scouts, my unit gets the money it needs for badges and other supplies for my program. |
| Support a product sale with a portion of the unit proceeds designated for an individual Scout's use to further his Scouting experience. |
Not only does the unit benefit, but I can earn money for camp fees, Scouting supplies, etc. The harder I work, the more I earn. |
| Avoid the temptation to look for a "quick fix" or someone to sponsor, underwrite or otherwise financially support the unit. |
If it is important enough for us to have it, it is worth our effort to earn the money to buy it. |
We've taught the value of paying your own way. |
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