My sons' Scouts BSA troop has suddenly become a food drive. (Though the scouts are also still doing a lot of work on various merit badges and rank requirements.) It started with the Gomez family, two of whose sons have led the troop as Senior Patrol Leader. They are close enough to parts of our community that they can verify the needs and resources of the families receiving aid. Both the recipients and the troop know and trust them. The troop as a whole has organized to support the supply side of the Gomezes' operation, while adult scouters and troop alumni help with delivery.
The classic cautionary tale about charitable work is Dickens's "Mrs. Jellyby" in Bleak House, who works tirelessly to raise awareness and support ill-fated highbrow missionary projects in the most obscure parts of Africa, thinking she's saving people whose needs and wishes she actually knows nothing about, while completely neglecting her own children.
The opposite of Jellybying is often depicted by another English novelist, whose compassion, skill and sales rival Dickens's, Sir Terry Pratchett. As he puts it, "Do the work that's in front of you."
That's what this is. It does something that existing institutions don't have the capacity for right now. It provides not only shelf-stable staples, but fresh food that we buy and deliver on the same day. Instead of taking whatever food people donate, it buys in bulk so that donors' contributions do more good, handling is efficient, recipients get a planned and balanced basket, and, importantly, they feel like they are treated equally with each other, and with dignity.
Current Boys' Senior Patrol Leader Mattie Nguyen, a high school junior, asked the scouts to participate by spreading the word, and gave them communication advice that it takes most of us decades to learn. I frankly assumed the Scoutmaster wrote this, but I asked Mattie's mom and she assured me that he wrote it all himself.
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Dear Scouts/Parents of Troop 167:
If you attended the troop meeting held May 20th, you are likely aware of the service project that Troop 167 is performing to help families within our community put food on the table. An extension of an effort initiated to help families in our own troop, the scale of this project has grown enormously. Each week we are purchasing bulk quantities of food and preparing staple packages that are delivered to over 100 families. A more detailed description of this can be found in the attached files. A crucial service for at-risk families in Arlington, the continuation of this project is imperative: and it cannot be sustained without sufficient funding. Each box of food requires $25 or more to produce, and each week we distribute to at least 100 families. The cost of providing this service reflects the immense need we are filling.
The potential success of our fundraising effort lies in the hands of T167 Scouts and families.
We are relying on you; the scouts and parents of T167, to raise the funds we need to continue our pledge to service. A volunteer effort, we have no overhead. While helpful in eliminating fees and bureaucratic obstacles, this also means that we are fully dependent on the proactive actions taken by the members of this troop. This is your call to action.
This is how you can help:
Spread the word. The most helpful thing that Scouts and parents can do is spread the word. As previously mentioned, we have no outside resources managing advertisement. You are our media outlets. In a world now communicating almost solely across the internet, emails are one of the easiest and most effective ways to advertise our fundraising effort. A simple message outlining who we are, what we are doing, and why we need funding can be copied and pasted to reach dozens of people. Additionally, people are witnessing the effects of this virus firsthand, making goodwill in easy access. For this reason, we are asking each scout to reach out to at least 5 people. If each scout does this, we will establish the lines of communication with the community necessary to move our service project forward. Attached to this email are documents providing the intricacies of our effort you may wish to include in your note, as well as a model message/note found below that can be used as a template or guide. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating your messages:
- Who are you writing to? If your recipient is a family member or friend, don’t hold back from personalizing your message. The more closely you know somebody, the more important it is to sound like yourself. A candid and genuine letter will be better received by people you are close with than a robotic and scripted note. Even if it is to your neighbors or people you may not know as well, show your personality in your writing. Keeping this in mind, still be sure to maintain a professional and appropriately formal approach. Remember; you are asking them for money at a time when people in all walks of life are facing their own challenges.
- How are you writing to them? Are you writing to your recipients over email? Text? Mail? By phone? Understanding the method of communication you are using is key to crafting an effective and appropriate message.
- What are you asking? Every communication has a purpose. The core purpose of the messages we are asking you to create/distribute is the following: Ask people for monetary donations and direct them to our donation page. Provide clear ways for people to donate by providing links or URLs to our donation page like this, and giving them instruction if you believe they may struggle to understand the platform. Offer your aid! The other parts of your message are also extremely important but keep this core purpose in mind. ...
- Communicate safety! How much people know about what we are doing is reliant on what you tell them. Make sure they know that scouts are out of harms way, and that everything we do is in full compliance with the safety restrictions in place. One way that this is ensured is in what you are doing right now- maintaining an essential role in this operation from the safety of your own home!
- Ask your recipient to spread the word too! The whole point of our asking you to send these messages is to raise awareness about our fundraising. Why stop at one point of communication? If you have grandparents you know how awfully well chainmail works, so consider asking the person to whom you are writing to to spread the word as well! As always, make sure you are being polite and considerate.
- Ask for help! Between younger Scouts, older Scouts, parents, and troop leaders, there is wide range of communicative experience and skill in our troop. If you are ever unsure of what you are writing, who you should write to, or if your message is good, don’t hesitate to ask for help! Your parents are the closest resource you have -- so run your message by them before sending it out. Ask anybody, and they’ll say a second pair of eyes is key to ensuring good writing. As always, the leadership in your troop is also available to you! Reach out to your patrol leader, troop leaders, or even fellow scouts if you have any questions or concerns. No question is a bad question.
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Model Message/Letter
“Dear Friends, Neighbors and Family [customize]
The COVID-19 pandemic is making it difficult or impossible for vulnerable families in our community to consistently put healthy food on their tables to feed themselves and their children. We at Scout Troop 167 (having pledged to help other people at all times) are stepping in to help by feeding up to 100 local food-insecure families in great need each week – and we need your help!
As detailed below, we shop at wholesale stores to get the best prices possible and assemble food boxes each week for distribution. We are organized and have the manpower – what we need is continuing funds. It costs about $2500 a week at our current level of aid.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation at tinyurl.com/t167fooddrive. No amount is too small, and your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
[xxxxxxxx personalized by the scout sending it out]”
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...
We thank you for your help in ensuring the success of our Troop’s vital service project. Together, we are helping our community stay healthy and safe in a period unprecedented in our lifetimes. We encourage you to please read the attached documents formulated over the past few weeks, detailing the story behind what we are doing, why we are doing it, how we are staying safe, and the logistics of such a large operation. ...
Sincerely,
Mattie Nguyen (on behalf of the Patrol Leaders’ Council and Leadership of Troop 167).
Links: