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YES - Year of Extreme Service

Get Involved

– Make a Big Difference

Gamehaven Council has announced 2009 to be a Year of Extreme Service (YES), and is encouraging all units to get involved. We are all aware that our country is facing difficulties that it has not seen in many years and that service to others is one of the foundations of Scouting. In light of the challenges and Scouting’s heart for service, a Year of Extreme Service to others is fitting preparation to Scouting’s 100th Anniversary. In keeping with the Scouting tradition, units are encouraged to do more in service to others during this time.  The goal is not only to do more to help, but also to be an encouragement to our communities through that help. 

The Basic Ideas:

Participation is voluntary.

Units are encourage add extra service projects/activities to your unit’s calendar before Scouting’s 100th anniversary (Feb 8, 2010).

One goal is to strengthen our relationships with our communities by conveying to them that we are “here for them” by doing more in service and increasing the visibility of our service to others.

Earn an individual participation patch and participation ribbon for the unit’s flag.

More Information:

A good YES goal is to do at least three more service projects this year than your unit traditionally does/has planned for the remainder of 2009. A good way to schedule the extra projects is one additional project in the spring, another in the summer, and yet another in the fall. Please keep attendance records for your service projects to allow you do determine who has earned Year of Extreme Service patches. Project ideas.

Register your unit’s intention to participate and send the form to the Scout office. Registration Form.  This registration simply indicates that your unit intends to add more service projects to its schedule during the Year of Extreme Service; it does nto commit your unit to anything specific. 

Please wear “class A” uniform shirts during service projects – except during most painting projects. When painting or working on other equally messy projects, try to wear shirts that will still allow you to be clearly identified as Scouts. If a “class A” shirt is destroyed during a service project (other than painting or equally messy project), bring it in to the Scout office to be replaced for free.

ALWAYS REFUSE any offer of a donation to Scouting when doing YES projects,

Participate in the council wide project:  May is Skip a Meal Month. Skip a meal – Put a meal on another family’s table. Families are encouraged to skip a meal during the month of May, estimate what they would have spent on the meal, and then contribute that money to an organization that provides food to those in need. More information.

Get involved in Scouting’s district/community/Council level service projects (Plans are still in the works for some of the district/community level service projects. More information on these projects will be provided later.)

Sign-up to be “On Call.” When you are on the “On Call” list, it simply means that your unit is willing to consider taking on a service project that comes up in your area. You would not be committed to any project; you would simply be contacted if a project arises in your area. You may decline any and all projects that we tell you about. To sign up to be on the “On Call” list contact your District Executive or e-mail Faith at fzeller@bsamail.org. Please include the following: Unit ID, charter organization, unit’s home town, number of individuals in unit, contact person’s name and phone number.

Most local newspapers, TV, and radio, enjoy stories about Scout activities. It can be a good idea to provide a press release to your newspaper/radio/ TV about some of your projects. Send a photo or two whenever possible with your press release. If you provide a press release a full week ahead of time, local media may come and cover your event. If you do not provide a press release ahead of time, you can provide a press release after the event. We will try to post them all on the Gamehaven website and may use some in Gamehaven Newsletter, etc.

For more information, contact your District Executive or Faith at the Scout office. To reach Faith: phone 507-287-1410 ext. 114, email: fzeller@bsamail.org.

 

Patches

YES Individual Patches: Patches will be given to individuals who choose to do Extreme Service. To qualify for a Year of Extreme Service patch, individuals must meet the following:

           1.  Project Participation

                A.  Be part of a unit that adds more projects to their schedule (or is an individual

                     that takes on additional projects) and

                B.  miss no more than one of the service activities done by their unit.

           2.  Number of Hours Completed

                A.  For individuals in Cub programs, one must do at least 30 hours of service.

                B.  For individuals in all other programs, one must do at least 70 hours of service.

All service hours done between January 1, 2009 and February 8, 2010 may be counted toward the Extreme Service patch.

YES Unit Participation Ribbon: Ribbons will be given to units that do the following: 

               1) Add three service projects to its schedule.  AND

               2) Have at least 60% participation at all of their service activities.

Record Keeping: It is meant to be simple. Nearly all of the information for YES patch awards should be able to be obtained through attendance records made during service activities. Units may want to have a plan for also keeping track of service activities done by individuals. This may simply be an “Other Service Hours” list. This could also be a place to record hours of service done at the den/patrol level, on an Eagle project, or at camping outings, etc.