Palmerston Scouting is struggling to find volunteers to run its programs and to find a new meeting space to call “home.”
Currently there are seven adults running the Palmerston scouting program and they’re stretched too thin, Beaver leader Vicky Lacroix said.
The program currently has 23 co-ed youths dispersed among Beavers, aged 5 to 7; Cubs, aged 8 to 10; and Scouts aged 8 to 10 – so leaders often have double duty, helping out either with another group or by taking on an administrative roll in addition to leadership duties.
“I’m the registrar so I do all the registration every year and one of the other leaders, she’s also the treasurer, these are also positions that should be handed off to other people but we just don’t have the manpower,” Lacroix said. “So those could be positions for parents.”
Each youth meeting requires a minimum of two adult leaders so that if a situation arises, one can attend to the emergency, and the other can remain with the group. Lacroix said new leaders would be paired with a seasoned volunteer to learn the ropes, how to program, and what being a leader involves.
“We would not throw anybody to the wolves,” she said. “Because you don’t run a good program for anybody if that happens; you lose the leader and you lose the youth.”
That being said, Palmerston Scouting is looking for leaders in a position to make more than a one-year commitment.
“If you think you want to come with your child for one year that’s great but you’re not going to make a cohesive program for everybody that follows you if you’re only there for a year, so it is a commitment we’re looking for,” she said.
Though the role may feel overwhelming at first, the Palmerston Scouts have a seasoned network of leaders and they try to play to each leader’s strengths, Lacroix said.
“Everybody comes with strengths and everybody comes with weaknesses and everybody is good at some things and not so great at others, and we accept everybody for who they are (both youths and adults),” she said.
“We play to everybody’s strengths and watch everybody grow, the adults grow just as much as the kids do.”
The more leaders and volunteers there are, the better it is for everyone, Lacroix said.
“Many hands make light work and to that end we are seeking new people to add to our leadership team,” Dan Belair, group commissioner, wrote in a letter to the Advertiser.
For Lacroix, the experience is rewarding largely due to the influence leaders have in shaping the lives of youth.
“It’s watching the youth grow themselves,” Lacroix said. “The satisfaction you get from seeing a young life and they emerge into being a community leader or involved in the community.”
Those interested in becoming a leader are asked to contact Belair at 519-343-2469 and leave a message or email dpbelair@gmail.com. Leaders must be 18 years of age or older and comply with the Scouts Canada screening policies.
Another challenge the club is facing is that its meeting space was renovated, making it unsuitable for programming.
Since 1927 Palmerston Scouting has met in the basement of the town library where the group had storage, put in a floor and painted a mural, Belair wrote. However, on March 31 the club held its last meeting in the space because library renovations were not conducive to the space required.
Now the club’s supplies are stored at leaders’ homes and Palmerston Scouting is on the hunt for a new home. For the coming year the Cubs and the Scouts will be meeting at a leader’s home and the Beavers will be meeting at the Palmerston Legion.
“Yes, space is a thing that we’re looking for but I mean we will make it work … the best we can,” Lacroix said.
“But really leadership is a huge need and it’s been a huge need for a long time.”
