How to Join our Pack

Application Form

For your child to join our Pack you must first complete an application with the National BSA scouting organization, either hard copy (https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/524-406.pdf) or or on-line at https://my.scouting.org/VES/OnlineReg/1.0.0/?tu=UF-MB-031paa0080 or with the QR code to the right.

Annual Membership Costs

Pack 80 is a volunteer led group, so we collect membership fees only to cover pack expenses. We collect fees in November each year, and for this coming 2022-2023 school year are fees are $300 per Cub Scout. Half of these fees go to our regional (Pacific Skyline Council) and national BSA scouting organizations, and the other half is used by our Pack.

Pack expenses include national/regional BSA membership for our Pack leaders, a Pack T-shirt for all scouts, Pack meeting pack activity supplies, Pack campout food, and awards (pins, patches, badges) earned by our scouts throughout the year.

National/regional BSA fees provide our Pack leaders with general liability insurance and also cover costs of maintaining all the national and regional camp sites owned by scouting, as well as scout shops and other scout facilities across the US. Our regional BSA organization also hosts a number of larger activities and campouts throughout the year that all Packs in the South Bay area are invited to join.

Special Pack activities through the year often require some additional costs, but you need pay these only if you attend the activity, for example overnight camping at the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

A note on something that often causes confusion for our new families: the national/regional BSA membership year is February 1 to January 31 which does not align with the school year that our Pack program aligns with. As a new family joining our pack at the start of the school year, when you complete your initial application form you will need to pay a one time $25 new member fee plus a pro-rated amount for the remainder of the current national/regional BSA membership year. This calculation is made in whole month increments back-dated from the start of the month in which you join. For example, if you join on September 20 it would be 5 months partial year membership from September 1 through January 31 plus the $25 new member fee, so 5/12*150 + 25 = $62.50. And then two months later in November it would be $300, this time payable to our Pack. Going forwards, for the next school year it would be another $300 again, but no repeat of the one time $62.50.

Uniform

Pack 80 requires uniforms be worn at Pack meetings and Den meetings, and occasionally at outings. The uniform consists of the official Cub Scout blue shirt (Webelos scouts can wear a tan Troop scouting shirt), neckerchief, slide, hat, and belt (awards go either on the belt or shirt). Official Cub Scout uniform pants or shorts are optional in our Pack. It is OK for a Cub Scout to wear any solid blue color jeans or shorts to save on costs (or solid khaki green color pants for Webelos wearing a tan Troop scouting shirt). For most outings appropriate clothing and the yellow Pack 80 "Class B" T-shirt that we provide when scouts join is all that is required.

Uniforms can be purchased at local scout shops in our area, see https://pacsky.org/scout-shops/ and https://www.svmbc.org/scout-shop/, and also at the BSA online store, see https://www.scoutshop.org/.

For more details about the Cub Scout uniform see here: https://www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts/cub-scout-uniform/.

For the official rules on what patches to buy and where to put patches on the uniform see here, https://filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33066/33066_Cub_Scout_Insignia_WEB.pdf, or also the inside of the back cover of your handbook (see next section below). Our Pack number is 80, our Council is "Pacific Skyline Council, California". For your Den number check with your Den leader.

Handbook

Each Cub Scout rank has a specific handbook. Handbooks can also be purchased at our local scout shops (https://pacsky.org/scout-shops/) or the BSA online store (https://www.scoutshop.org/), same as for uniforms. Handbooks can not be shared between scouts since requirements for advancement to the next rank, and requirements for completing adventures, are checked off in the handbook and signed-off by the Parent and Den leader to serve as the official record of a scout's achievements.

Hardship Fund

Every child is entitled to the same scouting experience regardless of a family's ability to pay. Our Pack is fortunate to have a scholarship fund established for families facing a financial hardship. For more information, contact us at info@pack80-psc.org.