Service to America

The Order of the Arrow's Plan

Objective: Each Order of the Arrow lodge will give leadership to its local council's commitment to meet community service goals through the year 2000 by implementing a plan to promote community service to Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs and Varsity Scout teams.

Plan: The objective will be achieved through a system of measurable promotion through personal contact and recognition from 1998 through 2000.

A. Promotion Methods to Units

1. Unit Visitation: Request and encourage lodges to make unit visitations for the purpose of promoting community service and suggesting projects suited to that unit's capabilities.

- For troops and teams, the promotion can be part of a unit election or camp promotion visit.

- For packs, the visitation can be at a pack meeting or pack committee meeting.

- An outline for the visitation will be provided to each lodge annually and will include suggested community service projects suitable for packs, troops or teams (the outline is included in this program packet).

- All presentations and promotion should be planned by youth Arrowmen.

2. Roundtable Visitation: Each lodge should ensure that a community service promotion is conducted annually at each Cub Scout and Boy Scout district roundtable during the first quarter of each year (1998, 1999, and 2000).

3. Individual Recognition: Each Scout who completes a minimum of 12 hours of community service per year may purchase a Service to America patch recognition in 1998 (segments in 1999 and 2000) from his local BSA distributor or Scout shop with unit leader approval. If 75 percent of the scouts in the unit earn the patch recognition, then all unit leaders will be eligible to purchase a patch.

B. Lodge Support and Recognition

1. Jamboree Rollout: The Service to America plan was highlighted and introduced at the 1997 National Jamboree OA Gathering and the staff orientation by National Chief Chris Rogers.

2. OA National Bulletin: The Service to America plan will be promoted in the National Bulletin annually.

3. Section Officers Training/Region Planning Meeting: Region chiefs will explain and promote the service plan to section leadership at this event.

4. Section Conclaves: Each section will conduct training annually at section conclaves on the Service to America plan.

5. 1998 NOAC: Training and promotion will be conducted at the National Order of the Arrow Conference.

6. Lodge and Section Recognition: Lodges that do the most outstanding job in promoting the Service to America program will be recognized at their section conclave by the National OA Committee. (A community service questionnaire is enclosed that will be used to select the top lodge in each section. The questionnaire will be added to the Lodge Charter Renewal Kit in 1998.) A Lodge Standard Award that all lodges may achieve is also a part of the lodge recognition package. Each section achieving the highest percentage of unit visitations in its region will be recognized by the national committee at the national annual meeting held in December.

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