Fundraising

The group relies on fundraising to support the majority of the groups operations. Each year we need to raise approximately $4,000 to cover the costs of the group operations. This money is raised through three or four fundraising drives. The first two are on the fall and the others usually in the late winter or spring.

Our two initial fundraising drives are Apple Day and Popcorn sales. It is critical that all members participate as fully as possible in these drives or we will not meet the fundraising targets. Details of each of them follow.

Apple Day:

Apple Day is usually the Friday and Saturday after the Thanksgiving weekend, In 2007 this means it will be on Friday, October 12^th or Saturday, October 13^th. Our group joins with other Scout groups in the area to raise funds at each of the malls in the area. We divide the time up into 16 shifts as follows: Appleby Mall, Lakeside Mall and a mixed Mall that covers some of the smaller malls in the area. Each of these Malls is then divided into five shifts: Friday 5 – 7PM, Friday 7 – 9PM, Saturday 9 – 11AM, Saturday 11 – 1PM and Saturday 1 – 3PM. The sixteenth shift is one that is at the Appleby GO station from 4:30 – 6:30 on Friday. All the money that is collected at these shifts is then counted together and then distributed to the groups based on the number of shifts each group manned. The specific shifts that your son is assigned to will be relayed by your leader. It is important that you attend the assigned shift as we need accurate numbers in order to safely man the shifts.

On your shift time you should plan to arrive at your mall location about 10 minutes ahead of the start of your shift. Your son needs to bring a rag to polish the apples with and a basket to hold the apples. Leaders will have some spare baskets if you do not have one! Beavers normally have parents stay with them, Cubs and Scouts the parents need stay only if requested by one of the leaders. The boys given apples and a collection can and are stationed at mall entrances in pairs. In the case of Beavers an adult is also stationed at the entrance. For cubs and scouts the leaders circulate between the entrances, visiting each one about every 10 minutes. At the end of the shift it is critical that you return to the collection point and turn in your sons collection tin and any left over apples.

Popcorn:

In early October the leaders will send home a popcorn order form with your son. They are to try and sell as much popcorn as possible to friends, family and neighbours. There are prizes that can be earned that escalate as each $100 sales milestone is reached. The money can be collected either at the time of sale or when the popcorn is delivered. Popcorn is delivered at the start of December and the money should be collected and turned in the following week. Each youth should target a minimum sale of $100. For safety the youth should not canvas door to door by themselves. They can either pair up with another youth or go with a teenage brother or adult.

Other Fundraisers:

As mentioned above we will normally have one or two more fundraisers in the spring. These fundraisers are selected by the group committee and have historically varied from year to year. In the past we have done Maple Syrop, Cookie Dough, Chocolate Bars and Fertilizer. If anyone has any ideas or leads for fundraising please contact a leader or group committee member!