Boy Scout Troop 256

My name is Edward Carr. I have been a Boy Scout since I was in first grade, Tiger Cub Scout, Pack 256, here in Texas. My troop, 256, has been me and my two friends for the history of the troop. We’ve had a few other members off and on, but it’s always been us three. This year, when recharter with our council came around in early December, we got all of our paperwork submitted on time and we paid in full for our troop. Then, on January 8, 2024, we got cut out. On January 9, I tried to talk with someone at the scout office about why they disbanded us and to please let us stay in our own troop. He said in order to recharter you need five people, that it is BSA National's requirement. We only have three. In fact, we only have two. Our oldest, Julius, aged out of the program last year in March of 2023, and though he was still active in the troop, being 18 meant he no longer counted towards our boy membership.

For the past six years we've only been 2-6 members and for the past 3 years its' only been us three. So why cut us now? I asked him to please let us have this last year because it will be our senior year and we wanted to stay Troop 256. We paid the recharter fees and they were accepted. However, without warning, our Troop was disbanded by the Alamo Area Council for our low membership. There was no warning, no buffer time. The three of us have all made it to the last rank in Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scout, and we worked extremely hard for it. My mom asked them to look at the stuff we have done as a troop and not at how many there are in the troop. We have done just as much as a big troop and sometimes more. We always participate in the council's popcorn and card fundraisers, so they get a cut of those sales. Why would they not see what we do for them? He said that our only options if we want to finish is to either recruit members or join a different troop. We can’t join a different troop. Troop 256 is who we are. It’s a thing. Joining a different troop now would be like going through high school and then moving to a new school before senior year. So, we have to recruit new members. We were able to get four friends to help us. The issue is that most people don’t have the $150 odd dollars it takes to join the program, especially not right after Christmas, so we decided to pay for their membership fees instead of lose the troop. But our bank account is too small, and because we aren’t a troop anymore, we can’t fundraise the traditional way of selling a scout product. So, in order to pay for all of the people we need to join us, we need help from you. $150 per boy for four boys for membership fees equals $600. We have $122 in our account, which we use for snacks and an occasional day trip. We decided to sacrifice it to save the troop, but it's not enough.

This is our last year, and we just wanted to spend it as Boy Scouts in Troop 256. Our Boy Scout Council isn’t being very Kind, Courteous, Friendly and certainly not Helpful, even though our troop has shown for years our Trustworthiness, Loyalty, and Helpfulness. We have time and time again Done Our Best to Do our Duty. We have always Done a Good Turn Daily. But this Boy Scout council is not showing us the same "Scout Spirit." So, we are asking you to help us raise money to keep ourselves afloat for our senior year.

Troop 256- Beagle Scouts Patrol