Eagle Boy Scout question

[RumpleMom]

Our nephew is a Boy Scout and receiving the Eagle Scout Award.

We received an invitation to the ceremony in the mail, but he lives out of state, so we will not be attending.

I bought a card to send to him telling him congratulations, and will call to tell him congrats too.

Is it customary to send a check in the card or not? If yes, how much?

 

[aprilgail2]

There is no special set amount to give. I gave my friends son 50.00 when he made eagle scout.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

You give what you can afford.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Give him what you can afford--similar perhaps to birthday present. I usually give $5 to $10 to the boys in my son's troop; some get a card if we don't know them well. I can't give more than that or I would go broke, especially lately!

 

[DebD4T]

I never knew it was customary to give an Eagle scout a gift at their Court of Honor.

I have been to over a dozen ceremonies and in my experience it is the Eagle scout that gives out the gifts. They give out small tokens of appreciation to any adults that had an influence on them in the troop. Also, any scout or adult that helped with their service project gets a gift.

Can this possibly be a regional thing? I know it is not done in our troop.

I guess I will find out for sure in a few months when my son has his Eagle Court of Honor!!! (I'm sooo proud of him!!)

 

[stsomewhere]

My Dh is a scoutmaster. He took over the troop in Sept. We have not given any gifts to the eagle scouts. Some of the invites say no gifts please. WE WOULD GO BROKE. I plan on giving my DS a gift when he makes eagle. Heck - we gave him $40 when he made first class. The troop is over 80 yrs old and pushes for the scouts to earn first class. They have a special presentation during court of honor where the charter org rep talks about the importance and significance of that rank. The scout has learned all the necessary skills for life, etc... The scout receives a sassafras walking stick represetning the T21 ranks.

I will give a gift to the boys my DS is close with. Not at court of honor but privately. The boys he has been with since Cubs, Webelos or our at our house often.
I know my Dh is planning on having a big court of honor for our DS. He just made Star rank and is going into 7th grade in the fall. My inlaws will give him a gift, too.

 

[aprilgail2]

I never knew it was customary to give an Eagle scout a gift at their Court of Honor.

I have been to over a dozen ceremonies and in my experience it is the Eagle scout that gives out the gifts. They give out small tokens of appreciation to any adults that had an influence on them in the troop. Also, any scout or adult that helped with their service project gets a gift.

Can this possibly be a regional thing? I know it is not done in our troop.

I guess I will find out for sure in a few months when my son has his Eagle Court of Honor!!! (I'm sooo proud of him!!)

We are in NY and everyone I have been to you have brought gifts for the boy. The boy also gave out gift to the adults that helped him but most people also bring a gift for the boy making eagle scout.

 

[momrek06]

Living in SoCal now but we are from MA ...both my DS' are Eagles and both had Court of Honors and everyone brought gifts BUT you do NOT have to at all. There is NO requirement to bring a gift. Your PRESENCE is a gift enough at the COH!

Just remember that this young man has worked very very hard to reach the rank of Eagle. It is a very prestigious award.

My DS'; one has his Masters degree, the other is in Law School and with all the awards they received over the years, attaining their Eagle is the one award they put at the TOP of their list of achievements.

To those interested ... you can go to http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsasupply/
to look at possible ideas for gifts.

OP, I understand you cannot attend the COH as you live out of state BUT maybe you can see something on the website and have it sent to your nephew.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I never knew it was customary to give an Eagle scout a gift at their Court of Honor.

It isn't. Some people do give gifts. Usually (in our troop) it's a card. If a gift is included it's usually some sort of eagle related object.

I have been to over a dozen ceremonies and in my experience it is the Eagle scout that gives out the gifts. They give out small tokens of appreciation to any adults that had an influence on them in the troop. Also, any scout or adult that helped with their service project gets a gift.

Can this possibly be a regional thing? I know it is not done in our troop.

I guess I will find out for sure in a few months when my son has his Eagle Court of Honor!!! (I'm sooo proud of him!!)

Congrats! We have two in our family and currently working on #3

Living in SoCal now but we are from MA ...both my DS' are Eagles and both had Court of Honors and everyone brought gifts BUT you do NOT have to at all. There is NO requirement to bring a gift. Your PRESENCE is a gift enough at the COH!

Just remember that this young man has worked very very hard to reach the rank of Eagle. It is a very prestigious award.

My DS'; one has his Masters degree, the other is in Law School and with all the awards they received over the years, attaining their Eagle is the one award they put at the TOP of their list of achievements.

To those interested ... you can go to http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsasupply/
to look at possible ideas for gifts.

OP, I understand you cannot attend the COH as you live out of state BUT maybe you can see something on the website and have it sent to your nephew.

 

[erwin.zeez]

Good work on your site.

 

[onelilspark]

When my brother made Eagle, I was out at college. I surprised him (and my Dad) by coming home to be there for it...my Mom knew, someone had to pick me up from the airport! Anyway, if I couldn't make it, I would have probably included some money in a card (obviously not a lot since I was a broke college student!) But since I was there, I didn't worry about it.

Oh, and congrats to him for making Eagle. It's such a huge accomplishment and will open so many doors for him! My brother just graduated this year and his Eagle combined with his degree got him a job. I don't think he would have gotten it if it weren't for the Eagle.

 

[Rora]

You give what you can afford.

Always my rule. Congrats to your nephew!

 

[Geoff_M]

As others have said, gifts are not expected, but many do give "something". There is not standard amount or type of gift and you will not be thought poorly of if you just sent a card with a note! Me personally, I like to give a US Silver Eagle $1 coin minted in the year the scout earned this eagle.

BTW, my oldest son is completing his Eagle project as I type this at an area park!