Community Service Badge for Scouts
Our new Greater LA Chapter of hugs, entitled " Bear Hugs R Best" is launching a badge for Girl and Boy Scouts to encourage community service in the LA area. They are working with Hugs to develop requirements that are age appropriate and an effective tool for youngsters interested in bringing hugs to children in crisis.
This is a sneak preview of the badge. What do you think ? Will this help your group as you begin to work with Hugs?
Girl/Boy Scout Community Service Badge with
Hugs Across America
Requirements:
1. Brainstorm with your parents, leaders or a friend about what a "crisis" for a child might be.
2. Watch TV news for 1 week - document circumstances in which children might be in crisis.
3. Read local news daily for 1 week and cut out articles in which children might be in crisis.
4. Write a paragraph or talk about how children in crisis might feel, use examples from your research.
5. Think about your own experience and write or tell a friend about how your teddy helped you when you were scared or sad.
6. Find out what organizations in your community would help children who are hurting, frightened or are in an emergency situation. Examples: Fire Dept/ Police Dept/Ambulance Service, Hospital, County Sheriff, Grief Counseling Center, Family Court, American Red Cross, temporary shelters etc.
7. Draw a map of your community locating these places.
8. Decide how and where you will collect teddy bears to comfort children in crisis. The bears have to be new, 9"- 14" in size for good hugging and not fancy...just a comfort bear.
9. Design/create signs/flyers to request teddies.
10. Talk to your church, school, local businesses or neighbors about joining your effort.
11. Design/make collection boxes (large enough for a bunch of teddies) for each group that wishes to help
12. Hand out flyers about your project
13. When bears are collected, write out tags with messages of concern and hope, and then place one around each teddy's neck.
14. Deliver bears to agency that you or your troop decides to support.
15. Take pictures of your effort and write a news article to be submitted to your local paper and to Hugs Across America for your Chapter website.
16. Research and discuss what other agencies or professions use bears to help children.
17. Research and discuss what other age groups other than children might benefit from teddy bear hugs.
Some 20 teddies are on the way to the Mercedes, Texas class of Judy Trunnell who died Tuesday, May 5th of Swine Flu. Judy, who delivered a healthy baby girl just before her death, will be deeply missed by her family, fellow teachers at Travis Elementary School and her students. May they all know that our hugs and prayers are with them.
