Thursday, August 27, 2009

A Foggy Night...

Almost 100 years ago on a foggy night in London, England a man was lost in the fog. A boy assists this man to his destination. When the man reaches into his pocket to give the boy some money, the boy refuses the payment. From that simple gesture a great movement was born here in the United States. This story is told to every person from the boys who enter as tigers all the way to the professionals. We all hear it and we all believe in it. That is what makes scouting the movement it is today! 


Through our actions, we teach the boys to serve one another and themselves. The scouts see us working to better the program and they see that not one person can do anything by oneself. People need each other to meet the challenges ahead. When these tasks feel hopeless or we grow weary, we just need to keep that simple story in our minds and ask ourselves, "Where would we be right now if that scout accepted payment from Boyce?" With this, I wish to say to all our volunteers thank you for keeping the tradition alive within yourselves and most of all with the boys you all work very hard to serve.

YIS,

Thomas Applegate
Lighthouse District Paraprofressional
Jersey Shore Council, Boy Scouts of America
Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/r0adra93

Monday, August 24, 2009

What's in it for me?

Hello and well met!

A few years back while attending one of my first Knights of Columbus meetings one of my brother Knights asked a simple question, "What's in it for me"? Right then and there I applied that question to my volunteer service in scouting. After a few days of this thought nagging at me I finally realized that I am in scouting for that awesome feeling I feel when I do something good for someone else. Many of our leaders are here for that very same reason. Some are here for the status that they hold as a volunteer or they are here for their children and to support their children along the scouting trail. There are many other reasons as to why people volunteer here with us. Bottom line is as long as we as leaders fill this question with our prospective volunteers they will make the decision to stick with it and to make scouting as much a part of them as it is a part of us.

I realize this question is a bit hard to swallow as it is brash, however, at the core it is honest and to the point. I would like you to ask yourself this very same question when it comes to scouting, "What is in it for me"? Then take a good hard look and see the impact you have personally made to the scouts in your local unit, district, council, nationally and world wide. Look at how simply realizing "what's in it for me" has impacted millions of lives across the world. Now, that is truly amazing and what makes scouting, the movement it is today.

If you are interested in making an impact at any level here in Lighthouse District please contact me at tapplegate@jerseyshore-bsa.org and I will gladly respond to your email and assist you along your own personal scouting trail.

YIS,

Thomas Applegate
Lighthouse District Paraprofressional
Jersey Shore Council, Boy Scouts of America
Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/r0adra93