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Community Resource Awareness Program PDF Print E-mail

Our Scouts often have special projects they perform in their communities in order to be of service to the greater community and meet more people.  One of those projects is the Community Resource Awareness Program. 

 

From big cities to small towns, there are many resources in any community which most people are not even aware exist.  A mother desiring a reading program for her teen for the summer may not even be aware there is a FUN program in town just for them.  A local hospital president may not know there is a battered women’s shelter in town.  A local conservationist may not know about a project to plant trees.  clip art holding hands

 

The Community Resource Awareness Program is a program our Scouts sponsor for people in the community.  People from the community get together and visit the resources in their community.  It is an opportunity for adults in the community to come together to acquire information about their community and its resources.  It is also an opportunity for attendees to make contacts, network, and meet new people.  The intention is for those in the community to become better acquainted with exactly what resources are available and where they are found.  Only by being aware of what kind of resources and help exist can they serve the community to the best of their ability. 

 

The Community Resource Awareness Program can last for 4 weeks or 8 weeks.  There are advantages to both, since 8 weeks allows people to get to know each other better, but 4 weeks offers more chances for more groups to participate.

 

Scouts Sponsor the Event

 

Our Scouts sponsor the program and organize it.  They work on the details about:

 
  • Who is invited
  • The schedule
  • Where to visit
  • Contacting the different organizations the people will visit and letting them know they will need to prepare a presentation and someone to meet the people
  • How many places to visit in one trip
 

Scouts issue official invitations, explaining the program and its advantages. 

 

Who is Invited

 

There are limited number of slots.  Each group should consist of 50 or fewer people in order to keep it orderly and make sure everyone can travel and visit a location easily.  Scouts attend, local youth attend, and adults make up the majority of the attendees.

 

Adults

 

Our Scouts invite those in community to get together with others who hold similar titles or jobs.  For example, the Mayor will want to meet with the Chief of Police, not someone just hired to the department.  Our Scouts arrange for officials of the same level to get to together to meet.  For example, the president of a local hospital would meet with the presidents of the local Red Cross chapter, the president of a local clinic, etc.  Vice Presidents meet together, Treasurers meet together, and so forth.

 

Scouts

 

Scouts who hold a similar title to those in the group will participate with that group.youth working together  The Team Leader will be included in the group with the Mayor and Chief of Police for example.  The Team Secretary will meet with other secretaries or those of similar rank in other organizations.

 

Scouts who attended the program go on to organize it.  It also allows Scouts who are interested in serving their communities to meet many people as they may attend as a Secretary one year, a Treasurer the next, and finally as a Team Leader.

 

This is also a program which is of help and interest to older Scouts (14 and up).  It allows those youth who are developing other interests to continue to participate in our Scout Programs in a more informal way.

 

The program should be kept to a neighborhood when in a large city.  It would not be feasible for example to invite every Team Leader from New York or Los Angeles to attend, as they alone could be in the hundreds or thousands.

 

Youth

 

Also invited are youth from local schools.  One student council official, one student class officer, and one student nominated by the principal attend each group.  Also local youth sports teams can nominate athletes to attend.  Principals and coaches will want to nominate more than one student since it is possible the chosen youth will be unable to attend on the particular day. 

 

Types of Community Resource Awareness Programs

 

One kind of Community Resource Awareness Program is for officials who work at non-profit, charitable, and philanthropic organizations.  Those who work at hospitals, non-profits, trust, museums, and more meet together.  Our Scouts are free to be creative and set up programs with those in the community they would like to meet with.  If our Scouts want to meet with local athletes, they can sponsor a Community Resource Awareness Program for athletes.

  

Advantages

 

Although there are advantages to our Scouts, this is truly a service to local community.  The Community Resource Awareness Program allows officials at local organizations to discover their community’s resources and make contacts which will help them in their careers.

 

They can also network, helping them to advance and find jobs.  Social contacts benefit them in many ways. 

 
 
Adventure Scouts USA