Denmaster
Since Cat Scouts was originally established, SERVICE has been at the core of Cat Scout life. Sure, it’s swell to have a great time roasting s’mores around the campfire, but what will feed your soul is service, not s’mores.
The three scouts in the photo above — Scout Cosmo, Scout Fuzzard, and Scout Roary– delivered food to hungry families during the Great Depression. Even though they were a little hungry themselves, they were happy to put food on the tables of folks who had gone for days without even three morsels of Fancy Feast to eat.
That legacy of service continues today. The Cat Scouts Service Group sends out hundreds of greeting cards each year to human people who are developmentally disabled (most with Down Syndrome). These people are residents of two facilities in New York and Ohio. The residents who receive the cards rarely get mail, so the birthday cards are a BIG DEAL for them.
How to Pawticipate in the Service Projects
Join the Service Group
Just go to The Service Group and sign up. You’ll get a chance to see how the other scouts are sending cards (they often posts pictures of their cards), and get notified when each month’s addresses are updated.
Get Some Cards
You can make your cards at home with your photos on them, or you can buy them at the Piggly Wiggly. You can write a note or just sign your name. Most scouts write at least a short note, usually telling the recipient a little about themselves and where they’re from, and include a photo. It’s up to you. Cards should be signed with YOUR name, not your mom or dad’s.
Send One Card or Many
Then, each month, send greeting cards to the birthday people listed in the group. You can send one card, or a card to every single special person on the list. We prefer that you send cards to as many people on the list as pawsible, but know that it can be hard to do sometimes so it’s not required. (If you aren’t able to send cards to everyone, ask another scout or two to split up the list with you so that no special person on the list gets left out.)
Bundle Cards and Mail to Facility
DO NOT mail the cards individually. Put the peep’s name on each card’s envelope, then group all the cards together and send in one big envelope to the facility.
For example, for October, the birthday peeps at the NYSARC facility are:
Claudia 10-4
Patty C 10/5
Darlene W. 10/11
Cherise 10-17
Stephanie 10-27
Bundle these cards and send to:
Genesee County
NYSARC Day Habilitation Center
4603 Barrville Rd
Elba NY 14058
Attn: Sally Waldron
For October, the birthday peeps at the Deepwood school are:
Michael I. 10/20
Jeff K. 10/15
David K. 10/23
Leah N. 10/3
Michael R. 10/19
Lauren S. 10/9
Denise U. 10/11
Bundle these cards and send to:
Beth Falkner-Brown
Director of Volunteer and Professional Services
Lake County Board of DD/Deepwood
8121 Deepwood Blvd.
Mentor, OH 44060
Any scout in the service group can help you if you have questions.
What’s in it for Me?
Of course, a good and true Cat Scout never asks what’s in it for him or her, but in this case you do get a Service Badge and 250 Karma points. In order to progress through the ranks of Cat Scouts, you must complete the requisite number of service projects for each rank.
Sabertooth
12 Service Badges
Lion
10 Service Badges
Cougar
8 Service Badges
Bobcat
5 Service Badges
Tenderpaw First Class
3 Service Badges
:salute:
Dear Denmaster, Since we joined Scouts, sending the cards has been one of our favorite activities. It takes time, and we always send a pic of ourselves, a purrsonal note and greetings for the occasion, birthday, whatever. We have found that it’s nice to include extra greetings, cards, pix for special occasions like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. We feel so attached to the peeps that get these cards, even though we don’t know them. We can just feel that they really like our pawsitive vibes!!
We thank you for providing us with this really heart-warming project! Maggie and Felix :salute:
I’m updating the text above to address your questions @aetheling.
1) Any kind of card is acceptable. Most of the scouts make their own cards with their pictures in their scout uniforms on them. Some send store-bought blank cards and write a short note inside, often including their photos with it. A standard birthday card simply signed with your name is okay, too. Anything goes!
2) Say you are from Cat Scouts and sign your Cat Scout name.
:salute:
What a nice idea!
I have two questions:
1) My secretary does a card ministry for the kids’ group at church. She buys the kind of card that has a design on the outside, and is blank on the inside. She writes a personal note inside to each child.
Is this type of card acceptable?
2) How do you sign your cards? Do I say I am from Catscouts and sign my own name? Or do you sign your secretary’s name?
Thank you 🙂