Volunteer flags?

Do you have problems getting people to volunteer for regularly occurring activities? What about trying something new?

This is what we are doing in Cub Scouts…Volunteer Flags…for refreshments.

The concept is that for refreshments you have your typical assignments – drinks, treats, and whatever else you might have. You also have someone call to get volunteers. Take the busy work out of it and ultimately take the burden off some of your overworked staff is the goal.

Here is a close up of a couple of the flags. You can do them however you want. I had them embroidered with the words because I had easy access to that as an option. Fabric paints will work just fine.

We have four options for assignments: drinks, fruits/veggies, and 2 treats. As such, we have four people who will ultimately “sign up” for refreshments each month at Pack Meetings. I actually made 8 flags so that we would have spares (in case 1 got lost or forgotten) or more for larger events.

Each flag was designed from a fat quarter of fabric. I got two flags out of a single fat quarter. You could use bandanas or scrap fabric. I decided that I did not have enough scrap fabric for this, so I went to Walmart and bought their $1 (or less) fat quarters. I liked the fat quarters better than the bandana selection at Walmart. Once I had my flags cut, embroidered, and sewn…

I cut down 36″ dowel rods to 24″. I thought that was a nice length for the size flag I had. It was also a good length for a center decoration on a refreshment table. You will have to find a way that is stable to display your flags. I used an empty spaghetti jar. You fill it with marbles or pebbles and it gives it weight to prevent tipping. I painted my jar blue and will write on it “Cub Scout Pack Meeting Refreshments” in yellow paint.

The goal is to have parents “volunteer” to take one each month at Pack Meeting. They then bring it back at each Pack Meeting and the parents can rotate on a “volunteer” basis. We do not have to hound them to take assignments. They take what they want to take and they return the flags when they bring their assignment to the meeting that night. Hopefully it works that well…