Below is a repost of the message regarding summer camps from the LEC Operations Update from Scout Executive Marc Ryan on May 8.
Dear LEC Scouting Family,
Scout camps are a place where kids laugh, learn, explore, and grow in the outdoors. We know how important these experiences are for our Scouts, and we will do everything we can to ensure we deliver a safe and secure summer experience.
Last week we sent out a survey asking for you to respond about your summer camping plans for your family. We had almost 800 respondents, thank you! Those answers serve as a guide to us as we plan for our summer operations. The majority of respondents were with our Scout BSA program. In fact, we saw around 9 times more responses from our Scouts BSA families as from our Cub Scout families. We have also seen a large response from our troops in reserving spots with early registration for Scouts BSA camp at Beaumont Scout Reservation.
As we wait to hear from the state and governor, we are currently evaluating the operations of our Cub Scout summer programing. We have increased the program offerings for Cub Scouts by offering four sessions of Cub Scout Adventure Camp where campers can choose to participate in the day, stay overnight, or a combination of the both and three sessions of Webelos Exploration Camp. Despite increasing the number of opportunities to participate in Cub Scout summer programming, we have seen a 44% drop in registrations from this time last year. This comes while we were trending ahead at the beginning of March for a 20% increase in campers.We understand that this trend might be due to packs not meeting during COVID-19 as often and thus promotion and coordination is not a prevalent thought.
We will need to make a decision soon on next steps for summer programming to ensure we can adequately hire, train and prepare camp staff, including access to required-National BSA trainings and in-person certifications and prepare our camp property. To ensure we can run an effective program that is financially sustainable, this is your time to be heard!
We are planning on making further decisions about the future of our Cub Scout camping programs for the summer of 2020 during the week of May 18th. If you are considering participation in our Webelos Exploration Camp or Cub Scout Adventure Camp, we need you to register and place a deposit of at least $25 per Scout before May 18th.
The deposit is risk-free and we will refund your money 100% if camps are unable to proceed or if you have a health and safety concern and don’t wish to send your Scout to camp. As a part of this registration, we will be asking that you provide us information about your flexibility on timing and locations of Cub Scout Camping sessions so we can determine if consolidating sessions is a possibility.
As we make decisions about Cub Scout summer programs, know that our first priority is the health and safety of you and your Scout. Even if it doesn’t prove to be viable to run Cub Scout summer camp this year, know that we will continue to provide Cub Scout opportunities to your family so that your Scout stays engaged, involved, and on the right track for advancement.
We understand that there are a lot of unknowns right now, so we are hosting a Q&A session via Facebook Live on Monday evening at 6:30 PM. You can submit a question before by emailing Anthony at Anthony.Dworning@scouting.org or during the live session.
As always, the safety of our Scouts is our first priority. We will adhere to all state and health guidelines in all our programs when we are able to open for operations again.
Yours in Scouting,
Marc J. Ryan
Scout Executive/CEO
Marc.Ryan@Scouting.org
