Living in Orlando has been a very interesting CHURCH experience. I've seen things happen in church that never even occurred in the 3rd world country where I served my mission. There have been times when Cristian and I look at each other and say in disbelief "Did you just see that? Or did you just hear that?" Sometimes things from the Church Handbook of Instructions get a little bit lost in translation. I've just learned to chalk it up as we're a little bit too far from the Mothership a.k.a. Salt Lake City, UT. That, and we live on the edge of the bible belt so sometimes beliefs and/or customs/cultures get a little bit intertwined. Sometimes church functions as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints-Southern Baptist Style". But I do have to say it's getting A LOT BETTER than it was 3 years ago.
Anyway, I recently left the community Cub Scouts and transtioned into a pack chartered by our branch. Tonight is the fundraiser for our tri-pack (2 English speaking wards and the Spanish speaking branch). We have NO money in our budget. For some reason, the customary popcorn sales do not go over well in the church tri-pack. You know, the cub scout equivalent as the Girl Scout cookies . . . except for the popcorn costs 5 times as much. But, I do have to say that for the last couple years I was involved in the community pack, we PROFITED between $3000-$4000 on popcorn sales alone. We didn't even have to do the Spring Family Fest fundraiser. Basically the boys had to take two 1 1/2 hour shifts standing outside the supermarket selling their popcorn. And if they wanted all the prizes that go along with being overachievers, they could sell popcorn to next-door neighbors, family members, parents' coworkers, etc. En fin, the cub scouts actively participated in the fundraiser. n my opinion, something is WRONG with the picture in tonight's fundraiser. I spent Wednesday getting the things ready for the Kindermusik gift basket I am donating for the silent auction, Thursday at the store buying stuff to make chili (fundraiser dinner) and cookies (musical chairs style "sweet walk"), yesterday making chili so it would have an extra day for the spices to set or whatever the cooking term for it tastes way better the 2nd day, and this morning I get to make dozens and dozens of cookies. Noon is when all the parents will meet at the church to decorate for the Fall Carnival/Cub Scout Fundraiser. And 5:00 p.m. is when we are supposed to be across town (a good 45-minute drive) so we can support our newest cub scouts at their BAPTISM. Followed by rushing back across town, getting kids dressed in costumes, warming up the chili, and being ready for the Fall Carnival at 7:00 p.m.
Is it just me or does it seem like the adults are putting WAY too much on their plates for today AND not really making it conducive so that the kids can actively participate in raising funds for THEIR fundraiser??? The kids are going to be running around playing carnival games, visiting the "Haunted House", etc. If we're not truly following the counsel of the brethren by OVERSCHEDULING our families and the B.S.A. states "it is best if the Cub Scouts earn their own way" in raising funds, wouldn't it have been a heck of a lot easier to just ask the parents to open up their checkbook, write a check for pack dues/den dues and call it a day???
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Too far from the Mothership
Posted by heidiram at 8:52 AM
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4 comments:
Oh my gosh, your day sounds like hell. I wish there was a "buy my way" option out of most things in life. My sister Celia just shows up at the school with $20's and starts handing them out in order to not have to actually do the work. And guess what, it works because people really want her money more than her time!
I say keep the cookies and screw the fundraiser. Done and done.
It is true. Handing out $20s is very liberating and assuages me of guilt.
I like this story. I had my oldest kid in a church cub pack and a secular cub pack at the same time and they were completely different animals. I learned all about cubs from the secular pack because they did it right, but the church pack had its own way of doing things, usually with less effort. And fewer volunteers. For the record, the secular pack DID NOT understand the church pack because it was less organized and they wanted to talk about it all of the time. It made me feel weird.
I agree with the fundraising (we Mormons, we're not the greatest fundraisers) issues. And that party sounds like it was a lot of work.
Next issue:
Making friends blog. People who don't HAVE blogs usually don't comment, have you noticed? I have hooked some people up to blogging and the best way was forcing them into my house and setting up a blog for them. They either get into or they don't. The friends with a life, they would be more interesting if they blogged with you. Good luck.
How did the fundraiser go?
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