I remember we came up with this quite a few years ago, Joe and I did.

One.

We thought we had the sort of audience that was giving so we could raise money for good causes.

And I think it was.

Just sort of a like this time of year, you know, you're throwing money around on all kinds of different things.

How about, just from my own personal standpoint, how about I throw a little money towards something good this time of year.

I think you know lots of people do that, oh.

Right, And we wanted to advocate for the things we hold most dear.

And it turns out it just coincided quite beautifully with the yall's.

Yeah yeah, and a number of organizations through the years where we've raised a lot of money.

This year, we're going to try to raise a lot of money for the Scouts.

And the reason for that is you've heard me talk about this a lot.

My youngest joined the Boy Scouts I think last March, and it's been the best thing that's ever happened to him.

And then just being around Scouting, I have become aware of things that I didn't know as a Boy Scout for a couple of.

Years, many many, many many years ago.

Because I'm quite.

Old, but watching Scouts and realizing how much more there is to it than learning about nots and putting up a tent and all that sort of stuff and hiking and all that they do.

All that stuff and it's really really cool.

But learning about.

Values and leadership and teamwork and all these different things and seeing it up clothes.

I've been so amazed and finding out that it costs a little bit to get into Scouting and do a lot of things you want to do.

And maybe we could raise some money some more people could get involved in Scouting.

And we'd like to welcome into the studio today our guest, Paul Helman.

Paul is a.

Noted member of Scouting America with over fifty years of volunteer service to Scouting.

Paul, you've been in almost every role in Scouting, from a unit leader to a unit commissioner to now you've been a council president at various times.

Now you're on the executive committee and board of directors for a council.

Paul, welcome into the Armstrong and Getty Show.

Thank you.

What what What'd be.

The number one thing you would say Scouting's.

Trying to do create leaders for tomorrow, create leaders for tomorrow, leaders for tomorrow.

Who's going to be our elected officials in twenty years from now.

That's what we're creating.

It is amazing how many times I hear people running for office who say they were an Eagle Scout or in scouting or whatever.

That does come up a lot.

But here's what I found out and noticed that I didn't know before on how the adults just kind of stand back and watch because the kids are in charge.

And he got like the fifteen year olds who've been around for a while helping direct the you know, the younger kids, and then the younger kids grow into that and everything like that.

Just the self sustained model that you've got.

And then these kids, and I said this on the air after the first Scouting thing I did, these kids don't act like other kids I've seen.

They seem like they're in their twenties.

A lot of these fifteen year olds.

How does scouting do that?

Exit observation that you've made there, What we are really creating here in Scout in America is a laboratory of learning.

You learn from the process, you learn from being experiencing the model that we're trying to create, which is, let's create an environment with which you need to make decisions and you have to take care of others.

And it's a boy led process of our scout led process, excuse me, boy or girl ed.

And so you'll have a twelve year old that becomes the patrol leader in a scout troop, that patrol leader that is responsible for the activities that the youth and his patrol will do on a camp out, for instance, thirty two hours or more.

What are we going to do?

How are we going to prepare our food?

So that leader, that twelve year old leader, will then help the other scouts make decisions, also do their rank advancements and learn some very basic things.

What's the process about?

Where do we set up our tent?

Not only how do you set it up?

But where do you set it up?

How do you make sure it's in a safe position.

Also, some day you should sit to a patrol leader council meeting.

That's when the youth get together and they decide their program.

What are we going to do for the next two or three months during our meeting?

Yeah, my son just had that meeting recently.

No, I did not sit in and watch it, but that sounds really really interesting, and they vote themselves on what they're going to do in the coming year and what they'll need yes and all.

That sort of stuff.

Yeah, Joe.

You know, it strikes me, Paul, that there's an old saying.

You never learned so much is when you're teaching, and you're never as much of a servant as when you're leading, because you realize, oh, this isn't about me, this is about everybody but me.

That's why I'm leading.

I mean, my gods, you learned so much about human beings in a role like that.

Absolutely true.

The leadership model that we try to use is called servant leadership, something that was created by Robert Greenleaf what twenty five thirty years ago, and that's the model that we portray and could convey over to our adults to then translate that to the youth.

And the youth training also uses a model and what we call National Youth Leadership Training, and YLT is where the youth go and learn the techniques and leadership.

The adults do the same thing when they go to Woodbadge Wood Badge training usually corporate leadership training in a wonderful environment in a Scout camp.

Location.

But like I said, my experience has been you want to talk about teenagers who look you in the eye and give you a firm handshake and refer to you as mister, and all that sort of stuff that you don't see that much in modern America.

Man, it is around Scouting.

I'll tell you.

That that's true.

You think about the values we have in Scouting.

Scout Oath and Scout law teaches you to have respect for all that you're around and the environment, your fellow Scouts and everyone in the community.

My son got elected whatever the first step is patrol leader for his little group recently, and he's taking it so seriously, and I'm so proud of him and just amazed by that he feels the responsibility of showing up to the extra meeting and being there and doing the things he's supposed to do.

It's absolutely credible.

Yeah, there's one of the things we do in Scout in America, and I think we do this extremely well, is providing those environments for twelve year olds to then be responsible for other youth, other human beings, making phone calls, doing whatever they need to do.

And you're going to bring the right who's going to bring to food.

The entire structure in the organization of their outings are going to be basically managed by the patroller, who might be twelve years old.

See what other things I like to tell people is what we teach at Boy Scouts of America is exactly what you learn when you go get an MBA.

So take your pick, you're going to be in Scouts to that you're eighteen years old, or you're going to go to someplace and learn the same techniques and you're twenty four.

You've got to learn the same things in Scouting that you would getting a higher education.

And Joe and I have talked about this a lot over the years.

Joe was bringing it up just a couple of weeks ago on how whenever you hear these stories about inner city schools that were struggling and they turn it around, it's always because some hard ass principle or something like that demanded more out of the kids.

And when you they demand more out of the kids, the kids rise to the occasion.

And that's what I've seen just being around Scouts like this, Like my son, I know what my son is like, and like a couple of weeks ago.

He was headed to his first meeting where he's now, you know, in charge of his little group of guys.

Everything like that, we got to be there on time.

You know, I have responsibilities now and that he never talked like that before.

People rise to your expectations, especially kids over It's one of the great lessons I think we've forgotten in America.

Paul.

I'm sure you've seen that a million times.

And I have a tenacity that's the sort of grit.

The two things that sometimes we talk about is what we teach in scouting.

You got a I don't know, thirty thirty five forty pound pack on your back.

We got to get someplace before you can set up camp, and you got to get there.

You got to get there somehow.

You just learn how to just make it happen and lead your scouts so that you show up and can set up your camp.

One of the greatest adventures that we do in Scouted in America are our summertime, the fifty mile hikes or going to Filmont or some of the other high adventure camps that we have where you do these tricks.

As I said, I've seen I've seen sixteen year olds that are so much more impressive than so many thirty year olds I know, in terms of just being adults that look like they can take on life.

It's absolutely impressive.

So here's the deal.

Let's get to where the rubber meets the road, because we're trying to raise money this week.

I would love it if every because the boys and girls, but every kid out there, had the opportunity to be in Scouting.

But it costs something to be in Scouting, and not everybody can afford it.

What's it cost just generally, do you have any idea across America what it costs to get involved in Scouting for a family.

Well, you have your your personal pensis, which would be the uniform one hundred hundred and fifty dollars totally when you get down the equipment that you need to go camping.

There's also the support for the local councils and the administration of the Scouting program in your area, which is generally going to be about another eighty five to one hundred dollars a year.

So I would tell you it's a couple hundred dollars a year to be involved in Scouting.

Yeah, which is enough to keep a lot of people from doing it.

Oh and given the unbelievable effect it can have on their young lives.

I mean, that's just it's tragic that any kid would not be involved in scouting for questions of costs.

Yeah, so if we can cover here today, if we can cover that cost by raising some money, go to Armstrong and getty dot com.

We've got to donate now on there, and we'll see how much money we can raise this week, and then a whole bunch of people can get exposed to scouting.

And you know, I guess COVID is really hard on scouting.

Yeah, COVID caused us the inability to meet as a group, and so some of our units to stop meeting.

Then no longer are in existence because of that, and so we're working hard.

And this is where the funds that were going to gain help us, because now we could get professionals in the field to rebuild those units to go to the sponsoring institutions.

Hey, we need to recreate Pacact pack y and then be able to provide scouting for the congregations.

Hey, Paul, we've just got like thirty more seconds, But can you speak quickly to scouting and patriotism is that still a fundamental part of what you do.

Absolutely is what we party.

We have the American flag on our uniform.

We recite the Pledge of Allegiance before every single meeting, we salute the flag, and we're one of the few organizations in the United Statess allowed to retire American flags.

We have a very respectful ceremony that we go through when we retire the flags and burn them and bury them as they need to be.

I see that every week.

What do you call the thing when they bring out the people and they take the flags down and stuff like that.

Flag ceremonial.

Yeah, the flags are many.

I see that every week, and it's so cool and having, you know, seeing these kids do it and take it so seriously and quietly and everything like that.

It's just awesome.

They standard attention and salute.

They very much take it very seriously.

Paul Helman, thanks for coming in.

Thanks first of all, thanks for your time all the years he had donated to Scouting and you know, just helping out youth all across America and all the people, all the volunteers that I've seen that work so hard.

We're going to raise as much money as we can for you this week.

We appreciate you coming in.

Thank you very much.

We've got a lot of stories to tell.

Armstrong and Getty