17 May 2003
Dear parents,
Early registration for 2003-2004 3rd Kanata Scouting will take place Wednesday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 27 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Bridlewood Community Church of the Nazarene, located at the corner of Stonehaven Drive and Eagleson Road.
We encourage as many as possible to come out one of these two nights if you are planning to register your child for next year. A successful early registration helps us determine how many leaders are needed for next year and how many sections we will need.
To secure a position on one of these nights you will be asked to make a deposit of $50 payable to "3rd Kanata Scouts". The balance can be paid when your son or daughter starts back in September. Please also remember to bring a cheque to cover our "Volunteer Bond".
Our registration fee for this past year was $100, and, although fees have not yet been finalized, expectations for 2003 -2004 are that it will be in the $165 range.
Scouts Canada has been undergoing financial pressures these past few years - as have many organizations (i.e. Insurance on members has increased from $2 per registered member a few years ago to $10 this past year and is expected to jump to $25 in September 2003). These pressures are having an impact on the costs of operating at our level. Please be assured, all the Leaders and managing committee (Group Committee) are volunteers and for the most part have youth in the movement and a vested interest in keeping the fees as low as possible. There is still a great deal of discussion as to where fees will be set and how to minimize the impact to you.
As always financial assistance will be made available to anyone who needs it. Contact me in confidence at 271-8140 heather.kirk@sympatico.ca.
We are hoping to handle the volunteer recruitment a little differently this year. You may recall last year we experienced a late start while waiting for some of our key positions to be filled. In an attempt to alleviate this, and hopefully take some of the burden off of our leaders we will be asking, at the time of registration, that every family consider taking on a volunteer assignment. There are several positions at Group Committee level, and at section level that must be filled in order for us to operate. These positions all count towards full bond points for the year. Families who do not take on assignments at this time may be slotted into positions within the section later in the year. More information will be available at pre-registration.
Scouting is still the best program you can put your son or daughter in. The focus is to aid in their development physically, mentally, socially and spiritually, incorporate practices of working in small groups, learning by doing, and using the outdoors. Our aim is to develop "Character" and "Leadership" in the youth in a progressively exciting and challenging program. Scouting offers the youth, and the adults involved, a unique opportunity for personal challenge and development.
We hope to see many of you at pre-registration.
Yours in Scouting,
Heather Kirk
Group Committee Chair
3rd Kanata Scouts
