Last week, Boy Scout Troop 82 of Lockport disbanded after 42 years of service to the community. Over the course of its history, the troop produced 69 Eagle Scouts.
If you are unfamiliar with what an Eagle Scout is, the award is the pinnacle of scouting, a culmination of years of fun and hard work that saw the teen amass merit badges, take part in outdoors experiences, and develop leadership traits. The piece de résistance is his Eagle project, a task undertaken by that scout to address a specific community need that has him overseeing design and development, the acquisition of resources needed to complete it, and the scouts and adults who are building or distributing whatever that final outcome may be. Examples of such projects are building food pantries and clothing closets, upgrading town parks, constructing kayak launches, and preserving cemeteries.
Those of us in scouting, and many people in the community, see the social value of becoming an Eagle Scout. We know he did something great for the world, at a young age, which sets him on the path of continuing to be a great citizen while one day becoming a great spouse, parent, worker, leader, and doer.
On the other hand, we never talk about the economic impact of that Eagle project. I’ve been involved with the Boy Scouts of America since 1986 and that’s always been the case at the national, local, unit, and individual levels.
It’s almost like it’s taboo.
This isn’t just a scouting thing. When it comes to other community organizations and non-profits – from fire companies to churches to little leagues to Lions and Rotary Clubs – participants always focus on the feel-good stuff, the human condition, because that’s what it’s all about, that’s why we do what we do. It’s about the people. And, we should never lose sight of that.
But, all volunteers, in whatever they may do for the world, need to augment their conversations and show the dollar value their organization or tasks bring. Everyone understands the value of money, especially so in this era of inflation and high interest rates, and it could be something that motivates others to give of themselves, which is sorely needed in this era of frighteningly declining volunteerism.
Because we don’t talk about it enough or ever, the financial impact of volunteerism will startle, always.
Consider what Troop 82 did for the community.
The average Eagle Scout project involves 170 man-hours of labor. If you were to have contractors or government workers provide that same service, assume a labor rate of $40 per hour (which is both wage and benefits). That means one project saved the affected taxpayers or non-profits $6,800 in labor alone. Across the Troop’s 69 Eagle projects that’s a total savings of $469,200. There are also savings had in donations of materials, equipment, and expertise, which would certainly push the final number well past a half million dollars.
What a gift for Troop 82’s Eagles to have given Western New Yorkers!
Scouts, leaders, and parents across the country need to brag about that sort of thing.
Firefighters should do the same about what they do.
Volunteer firefighting and medical services are one of the greatest callings one can pursue. Those souls answer their pager at all hours of the day and night, leaving family picnics, Sunday football games, and their comfortable beds to save people and property, tackling everything from structure fires to car accidents to medical events.
If it wasn’t for what they do – and there are far fewer people doing it today, by the way – every community would need a paid service. With that comes payrolls from always having the halls staffed, benefits like health insurance, and the legacy costs of pensions. According to a detailed study commissioned by the Firefighters Association of NYS, if New York went all-in with paid services for firefighting, 31,000 career employees would be needed at an annual cost of $4.7 billion. That would increase property taxes across the state by 28.4%...to start.
Fire companies do a bang-up job of showing calls-responded-to tallies on their signs and marketing materials. They should add a little nuance to that, saying “we’ve saved X lives and we also saved you X dollars on your property taxes.”
That sort of thing could serve as a wake-up call to the community. No one likes to part with money. When ultimately faced with the consequences of fewer helpers, people might just change their outlook about getting involved. A few hours a week is better than a few hundred dollars every year.
Sometimes, for some people, greenbacks tell stories that are just as impactful as the stories about the lives changed and saved. Dollars saved are something we need to talk about more often.
From the 23 August 2024 Greater Niagara Newspapers and Wellsville Sun
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