| Pack 565 Families, It’s that time again. Popcorn Selling Time! I know you’re all excited and ready to hit the streets with your order forms. Many of you have already received your popcorn packets with the order forms and the prize information. For the rest of you, your Den leader has the packets. Why should I hurriedly call my Den leader to get my popcorn packet? Well, here’s why. My buddy at work reported that a Boy Scout has already been to his house. If you want to beat the competition, you need to start early. Why would I even want to sell popcorn? Before I tell you about the incentives for the Cubs, let me give you the adult reason. Popcorn revenues count for over half (actually 60%) of our Pack income. It covers things like the Cub Scout rank handbooks and neckerchiefs we hand out at graduation, the awards (belt loops, pins, badges, and patches – i.e., the Bling), craft supplies, Pinewood Derby car kits, Raingutter Regatta kits, camp cooking equipment, and many of our activities where we cover the Cub Scout costs. These include camping fees, admission fees for Den go-see-its that meet an advancement requirement, life guards for swimming, and bowling. On the other hand, the $60 annual dues you pay in September just about cover our costs for BSA national and the Atlanta Area Council. As you can see, we really need each and every Cub Scout family to do their share of popcorn selling. To make our annual operating expense budget, our goal is $250 worth of popcorn sales per scout. Not everyone is a door-to-door salesperson. That’s why we have several ways to meet this goal. We are giving you five options: § Sell door-to-door in your neighborhood or at work. This is where you shamelessly hit up your neighbors, family, and coworkers. Hey! They’ll be hitting you up for their kids’ stuff at some point (or they did in the past). So don’t be afraid to ask them. How could they turn down a cute looking kid in uniform? § Participate in Show-and-Sell. Many families prefer this option. We will have Show-and-Sell dates almost every Saturday and Sunday between mid-September and early November out in front of local merchants. We sell actual popcorn (instead of promised popcorn) and take donations. (Donations count twice as much toward your $250 goal!) We’ll be signing people up for Show-and-Sell slots soon. § Donate a fair share out of your own household activities budget. $125 would meet the target goal because donations count twice as much as sales. If you decided that selling popcorn is too much trouble, but you still really feel you owe the Pack (because you do, you know!), we will happily accept a check for $125. What other kid activity do you know where you get as much value as you get from Cub Scouts over the entire year for the measly cost of $185 ($125 donation + $60 dues)? You’d deprive your boy of any popcorn prizes, but it sure would be an easy thing to do. Make your checks payable to Pack 565. § Donate your time to the Pack. I call this the community service option. We can always use volunteer help. Come to think of it, that’s why Cub Scouts is such a good deal. I don’t think any of the Pack 565 leaders have gotten a raise lately. § Do some combination of the above four options. Frequently Asked Question: Why do we have to sell popcorn? Why can’t we sell something better like the Girl Scouts do? What many people don’t realize is that the profit margin on a box of Girl Scout cookies is quite small. They have to sell a lot of boxes to make any money. And most of that profit actually goes to their national organization. We Scouts actually keep 70% of the cost of any popcorn sold. Half of that stays right here in our Pack and the other half goes to the Atlanta Area Council. That’s why we count donations at about twice the rate of popcorn sales. C’mon everyone. Embrace popcorn! It’s excellent quality – better than anything you can buy in stores. And it makes an excellent holiday gift. In fact, you should buy some microwave popcorn for yourselves (our favorite is Butter Lite) – enough to last all year. Or maybe you have some hard-to-buy-for family members. Right before we turn in the order form in October, we calculate how much we need to buy to get to the next award level. Okay. What are the kid incentives? We have many. First off there are the official BSA prizes. This year the prize vendors are actually well known companies: Nintendo, Lego, Coleman, and Razor. This isn’t junk! Take a look at the flyer in your popcorn packet. Show it to your son and see what he thinks (Erik is jumping out of his skin!). Just remember. For the BSA popcorn awards (on the glossy flyer in the packet), the only sales that count are the ones documented on the order forms. However, all sales and donations count toward the Pack prizes and the $250/Scout goal. Speaking of that, we are also giving out our own Pack awards. All kids that sell $500 worth of popcorn will get to throw a pie in the face of one of the Pack Leaders: Mr. Jeter, Mr. Chris, or Mr. Carl. Last year, there were 4 kids that made it to the $500 level, but there were 8 more kids that made it to the $400 level. Maybe if they’d known they were that close to this esteemed privilege, they would have sold a few more items. The boys got such a kick out of doing that and watching it during last year’s Pinewood Derby! Remember, too, that $50 in donations counts as $100 worth of popcorn for the Pack prizes. All kids that make the $250 goal will get a pizza party. I want to see the whole Pack at that pizza party. We’ll also have milestone prizes at the September 2nd and September 23rd Pack meetings. Whoever has sold the most and the second most popcorn up to each of those points will get more prizes. Wow. This got to be a long email. It makes it look like selling popcorn is complicated. It isn’t. Just get out there and fill up those forms! (Which reminds me: There’s a chance to win a bike or a play-station when you fill up a form.) All popcorn forms, money, and prize selections must be turned in by Tuesday, October 21. Didn’t get your form? Filled it up and need a new one? Need another to bring to work? Have questions? Please feel free to contact Michelle Z., zaczim3@aol.com. Happy Popcorning! Carl / Michelle / Joseph |
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