Pack 372 welcomes
GIRLS & BOYS K-5th Grade

Boulder is a prime location for scouting and Pack 372 takes advantage of all the local opportunities including two campouts a year, lots of hiking and exploring the outdoors, playing games, providing community service, as well as meeting inspirational and contributing members of the community.

Cost & Time Commitment

The two biggest questions parents ask are the time commitment and the cost. For being a year-round program, albeit less active in the summer, it’s an extremely economical youth activity. 

Costs per Scout
About $400/year
(can be earned through the fall fundraising* efforts)

Cost should never be a barrier to participating in scouting. Financial aid and other cost saving resources are available to ensure any youth interested in scouting has the opportunity to participate.

Between membership, uniform, and activities—scouting with Pack 372 costs around $400 a year for each scout over the full 6-year program. Costs can be skewed if the scout joins somewhere in the middle of the program (the full program is from Kindergarten to 5th grade). Most of that can be covered via the annual Popcorn Sales Fundraiser in the fall, financial aid, and through other channels as needed.

The costs skew a little heavy in the first year or two due to buying the uniform. Then it evens out until the last year when scouts have grown and need a new uniform shirt. But the new uniform will carry them into the next level (a scout troop) after they advance out of the pack. There can be opportunities for multi-youth families to save a little through hand-me-downs.

Scouting is a uniformed activity and all members are expected to wear the proper uniform. Most Cub Scouts wear a blue button down scout shirt. Exceptions include our youngest scouts (kindergartners) who wear a Lion Scout T-Shirt and the oldest scouts (5th graders and some 4th graders) who wear a khaki button down scout shirt. The blog ScoutSmarts.com shares some history and importance of the scout uniform. 

Other expenses include the various activities beyond the meetings like the Pinewood Derby, Blue & Gold Banquet, and costs related to the camping trips.

*If you join after the annual fundraiser (September-October) you will not have an opportunity to fundraise to cover your pack dues until the next fundraiser in the fall.

The cost per registered adult (one per family) comes to about $100/year over the 6-years and are asked to wear a khaki button down scout shirt.

Time Commitment
2-4 meetings a month
about 1.5-2 hrs each, plus volunteer time

The time commitment for Cub Scout families comes in three forms:

• Pack Meetings/Activities (mostly once a month, sometimes twice)

• Den Meetings/Activities (1-3 times a month + some on-your-own time)

• Volunteering/running events or with admin duties (at least twice a year/family)

Pack Meetings & Activities

During the school year, pack meetings are once a month on the first Tuesday 6:30-7:30pm (plus setup & clean up). Some months include a pack event like a campout, fundraising efforts, Pinewood Derby, or BBQ. During the summer Pack 372 does not have pack meetings, but does host one pack event a month.

Den Meetings & Activities

Den meetings are 2-3 times a month. Den meetings are scheduled by the Den Leader, usually on the same day of the week for consistency, but sometimes on a weekend for outdoor activities. The dens are the smaller units of scouts who are the same age. The pack is the bigger group consisting of all of the dens. There are also a few do-at-home activities beyond the scope of the regular meeting time like building rockets, Pinewood Derby cars, fundraising, etc.

Another time commitment is the pack fundraising in the fall. The pack participates in the national cub scouting fundraiser of selling Trails End Popcorn. The time commitment is up to each family and can include hosting a table outside of grocery stores, walking door-to-door in your neighborhood, calling friends and relatives, or promoting sales online. Each scout is expected to sell a minimum amount of popcorn to support their share of the pack expenses. These are the Pack Dues. That amount varies year to year. If a scout does not earn enough through the fundraiser, the family will be asked to pay to make up the difference. The pack dues are included in the estimated cost per scout per year stated above.

Volunteering: Parent/Guardian/Adult Involvement

The expectation is at least one parent/guardian/adult from each family volunteer in the ways described below. This ensures the effort of running the pack is spread among the majority of the families involved and not left on the shoulders of a few.

Adults are asked to support the pack at two levels. The most important is to support the activities at the den level (age specific groups in the pack) by leading at least one of the den adventures with support from the Den Leader. This usually only happens once a year, maybe twice if the den is smaller. For the younger dens, this is usually just one or two meetings within a month. Older dens might need one or two more meetings to complete the more advanced adventures.

The youngest members, Kindergartners and First Graders, participate in their den as a scout and adult partner team. The adult partner is required to attend all meetings with their scout and, as mentioned above, the adult partner is expected to support the Den Leader by running at least one of the advancement adventures.

In the older dens (2nd-5th Grade) adults are still expected to run one of the advancement adventures (once or twice a year). However, the adults not involved in running the adventure are able to leave their scouts at the den meeting and then come pick them up again when the meeting ends (as long as the Youth Protection two-deep leadership requirement is met—more can be found on BSA’s Youth Protection Training page).

The other level of involvement is at the pack level. This ranges from supporting once-a-year pack events like coordinating our annual banquet or going shopping for the camping trip, to year-round involvement in a leadership role (Den Leader, Cubmaster) or as a community liaison. All the jobs are outlined in the Pack 372 Jobs spreadsheet (click link to request access). 

Siblings & Extended Family

Pack 372 hosts a Family First oriented program. This means in many instances siblings, parents, grandparents, or close family friend adults are able to attend all of the meetings and participate in most of the activities. Ideally, if any siblings are of scouting age (Kindergarten and older) then they are also members of the pack. Siblings of pre-scouting age are welcome to join in on activities where appropriate with a parent/guardian including on pack campouts. Older youth who are members of a Scout Troop (11-18 y/o) can be Den Chiefs to support the den and pack activities.

What’s Next!?

If all of the above is sounding like it aligns with what your family is looking for, then the next step is to complete the membership application and check out the Pack 372 New Members information page.

If you still have questions or want to visit a den or pack meeting or a pack event to learn more, check out the upcoming events on the Pack Calendar and feel free to contact the Pack Committee via email: akela@pack372.org for specific den meeting information or with any other questions. We also have lots of photos of previous activities so you can see the pack in action.

There is also a lot more information about Cub Scouts in general on the scouting.org website.