At the Northeast Illinois council, we believe that every youth should have the opportunity to benefit from Scouting. But, there may be circumstances where a youth and his/her family needs a little help financially to take part in Scouting activities. To address this, our council has allocated part of its annual budget (funded through Friends of Scouting donations and the Endowment fund) to help.
There are two assistance programs: Membership Assistance and Camperships.
Membership Assistance
Scouting America charges a national membership fee for all youth and adults who register as Scouts or leaders. Northeast Illinois Council also charges a Council Registration Fee in the same amount. Families pay both fees through our council office. The national portion is passed directly to the national organization, and the council portion stays with NEIC to support local program and services.
The Membership Assistance program ensures that every youth has the opportunity to join Scouting, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Before applying, we encourage units to check whether the unit or its chartered organization can help, since many offer support. This allows us to prioritize council assistance for families who do not have another option.
Here’s how the Membership Assistance process works:
- Unit leaders will provide the Membership Assistance request form to families who are not able to pay registration fees (and whose unit or chartering organization cannot help).
- The family will fill out the form and return it to unit leaders.
- Unit leaders will then return the form (by saving the fillable PDF or printing and completing by hand) to the their District Executive, preferably by email.
- Our staff will process completed financial aid forms in an expedited manner so that financial aid requests are timely considered.
- Our staff will notify the applying family and the unit Committee Chair with results.
Camperships
Camping is one of the methods of delivering the Scouting program. Camperships provide part of the fee for Scouts to attend camping programs here in Central Texas (like a scholarship for camp).
Before applying for a council Campership, please ask your unit and its Chartering Organization for any financial assistance possible. We ask this because many units and charter partners do offer this kind of help, and we want to make sure we prioritize our available limited funds at the council level to help as many Scouts as possible who can’t get help elsewhere.
Here’s how to apply for a Campership:
- Click here to get the assistance request form
- Complete the form by filling in the PDF and saving it to your computer, or printing and filling by hand
- Have your Scout write a brief letter (by hand or electronically) indicating what Scouting means to him/her and how attending the camp in question will have an impact
- Email the completed Campership assistance request form to rob.sinda@scouting.org, or mail/drop off hard copies of the form and letter to Scouting America Northeast Illinois Council, Attn: Camperships, 850 Forest Edge Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061
If approved, we will provide the Scout’s family with up to half of the cost of camp (subject to availability and budget). All Scouts who receive campership aid should earn or provide part of their fee, in keeping with “A Scout is Thrifty.”