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“A hundred years from now, it will not matter how much was in your bank account, the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be better because you were important in the life of a child.” This quote from an unknown author clearly depicts how Mike Shaw views his position in the community, and most notably his work with the Boy Scouts of America. As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Denver Area Council, Mike Shaw has worked for many years to share both his time and his treasure in helping the youth of Denver.      For more than ten years he has served as chairman of the Denver Area Council’s Trail’s End® popcorn sale. Mr. Shaw has provided leadership, recognition items, events, and motivation to his team of volunteers.From its modest beginnings, the popcorn sale is now a huge success,realizing almost $3-million in annual sales here in the Denver Area Council. Over the years many millions of dollars have been raised by the local Scouting units and the Council to support the Scouting program. These funds have helped ensure that the cost of the Scouting program in Denver is kept affordable to all -- for money should never preclude a Scout from participating.      As the council’s Popcorn Chairman, Mr. Shaw recognizes that to grow the sale we need to motivate and train the Scouts, the unit Popcorn Chairs and the District Popcorn Chairs. He personally underwrites the cost associated with recognition items and recognition events for all three groups.      Mike Shaw’s involvement in the popcorn sale, Scouting and many other community organizations illustrates that we all stand a little taller when we stoop to help a child.   Jim Hans [ Download a printable PDF of this story ]

I work in advertising, so I know the importance of getting the word out to the masses. I have discovered how little attention the popcorn sale receives in the community, and I think there are many great lessons to be learned from this fundraiser, ones that will stay with the boys for life.      So many parents get caught up in the fact that the popcorn is expensive. But, I have fully embraced the concept that we are NOT SELLING POPCORN. We are selling a valuable program -- SCOUTING -- to our communities. Few people buy the popcorn because they need it. They buy it to support Scouting. That is something that I have tried to "sell" back to our parents.        We train our Scouts on the script to use and it really helps. They always introduce themselves, tell the customer why they’re selling, then ask them to help support their Scouting program by buying popcorn.      At first, my son and his buddy were reading the script. Then, one day they surprised us and had it memorized. Consumers consistently would purchase 9 out of 10 times! And, when they complete a transaction, they ALWAYS say, "thanks for supporting Cub Scouts."       We have a lot of people pat the boys on the back and tell them to stick with Scouting! It's really valuable to me that my son is recognized and commended by a stranger for being a Scout and is encouraged to stick with it.      If there is ANYTHING I can do to help with PR for Popcorn, please let me know. I am more than happy to help, and you won't find many as enthusiastic as I am!! Stephanie Vosper Pack 235 Kernel [ Download a printable PDF of this story ]

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