I can understand your frustration….it's really tough to have to make that call, but you are not alone.

If you care about the program [I know that you do], you will find a way. It's harder than hell to get parents on board, to take ownership of their pack.

Here are some questions that you will have to ask yourself before even proposing it….

1. How will the CO take it? Will they be upset, or indifferent?

2. How will the existing parents take it? If they care, they will step up…if they don't, well, then…*sigh

3. How will the kids take it? This is the big one…and a card that, if played, will need to be done carefully

4. If you shut it down, is there an option for the scouts to go to another unit?

These are just a couple of questions to ponder.

You have a rather large group to be considering folding…when I was a UC, I folded a pack…here is a brief rundown of that….

Unit of 8 scouts, 0 Tigers, 3 Wolves, 4 Bears, 1 WB I….irregular meetings, never doing anything. The CC was ready to retire after 40 years, the CM was also the Wolf leader, 2 moms ran the Bears, no DL for the WB I, no other Committee members at all. CM was unwilling to get training, blamed all his problems on the district/council, never looked for help in the right places. CM's son quit scouts, CM/DL quit pack. There was literally nothing left at all.

Here is where we had fixes already in place.

That pack folded, but there was another pack already in the same school, ours. When I got the call from the CM stating that he was calling it quits, I called the ADC to see what to do. "Well, if they don't have 8, they can't recharter. Do you have any ideas?"

I told him that my wife's pack would take those scouts in [which we did, 4 of them...the others quit] and to fold the other unit.

We had options, and that is what kept some of those kids in scouting.

You have 17 kids, out of that, there has to be something to salvage. It's a tough row to hoe, but at the end of the day, it's all about the scouts, and getting their parents to believe in the program and how as CM, you are going to make the pack go….

Get rid of all the negative stuff….the missing money, the lack of who isn't showing up, the CC leaving…spin that to positive.

1. It's only $150…yes, it's a lot of money, but that can be replaced [contact the Lion's Club or Moose Lodge, they will donate..or your CO and let them know]

2. Who is showing up? The ones who care, that's who…….and use that energy to re-energize you and your unit

3. If the CC leaves, is that a bad thing? To me, sounds like it may be a good thing…she sounds non-committed, non-caring and indifferent…do you need someone like that running your meetings?

Sorry to write such a novel on this topic, and I am making assumptions that you haven't done all that you can do to salvage it. As a former UC, it was my job to save units, not fold them, except when there wasn't anything else that could be done.

Keep us posted on the progress or if you have any more details….