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 members and leaders of the community.

Before joining and paying the National Scouting America Registration Fee (about $200/year), please read all of the information below and check with the pack leadership to find out if your potential scout will be able to make it to the den meetings.

Den meetings are the core of the Cub Scout program and are roughly once a month and are usually on the same day of the week (e.g. 3rd Wednesday of the month). It is very difficult to get the National Scouting America office to issue refunds and it's out of the control of the pack leadership. Pack meetings are on the 1st Tuesday of the month from 6:30-7:30pm in South Boulder.

Cost & Time Commitment

For being a year-round program, albeit less active in the summer, Cub Scouts is an extremely economical and highly enriching youth activity. 

Cost per Scout
About $200 for the first year, then $400/year
(can be earned through 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. 

The two major annual costs are the nearly $200 national & council membership fees and the up to $200 local pack dues. To help buffer these costs, Pack 372 waives the pack dues for the first year for new members.

The biggest up front cost is buying the uniform. 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 the 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 uniform is one of the methods of scouting. Sometimes the pack has donated uniforms available for free.

Other expenses include activities beyond what's organized by the pack, for example, the Cub Haunted Weekend Campout or if scouts participate in any other district or council level events. Pack 372 is in the Wapiti District, in the Adventure West Council (which spans from Broomfield, Colo. to Cook City, Wyo, and into western Nebraska).

*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. Or, if nobody volunteers to head up the fundraiser, there might not be one available for that year. There's also rumor of a spring fundraiser getting organized.

The cost per registered adult (at least one per family needs to register) comes to about $100/year over the 6-years and are asked to wear a khaki button down scout shirt. Again, financial aid is available for this expense by request.

Time Commitment
2-4 meetings a month for about 1.5-2 hrs each,
plus some 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 home activity time)

• Volunteering/running events or with admin duties (at least twice a year per 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 1-3 times a month depending on the den. 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 in the same grade. 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, building Pinewood Derby cars, at-home advancement adventures, 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. This effort can fulfill the obligation of 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 as an adult member of the pack (~$100/year, as mentioned above). 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 the activities. Ideally, if any siblings are of scouting age (Kindergarten to 5th grade) 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 see if Pack 372 has availability in the program (the limit is around 55 scouts per year—if not, there are other packs in the area). 

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.

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