Proceeds from this patch will go towards building up the Boy Scout Program in Iraq. Donations for the patch can be made in the form of Cashiers check, personal check, Visa or Mastercard.

To mail your donation, please make the check payable to the Iraqi American Foundation, and send it, along with a self addressed, stamped envelope (to mail your patch back to you), to:

IRAQI SCOUT PATCH
c/o: THE IRAQI AMERICAN FOUNDATION
Iraqi Scouts Initiative
P.O. Box 1017
Lampasas, Texas 76550

Greetings from the proposed site of the new Iraqi National Scout Council Headquarters, Regional Scout Camp, Training Facility and International Scouting Center --- Chip Beck, Scouter

OPERATION POCKET CHANGE

We are asking your Troop or Pack to start an Operation Pocket Change program. Your unit can encourage each Scout and participant to put a jar or box on the kitchen counter or similar easy-to-see location. Each day, when you come home from school, play, or work, toss your loose chain in the box. Get others in the house and workplace to join you. Toss those nickels, dimes, pennies, quarters (even $100 dollar bills if you are a “high-roller”) into the jar. Each week, turn the coins into your Scoutmaster or Unit Treasurer, and have them combine the Unit’s input. Keep it up for a month, or more.

Download an Operation Kit in .pdf form

Download just the labels in .pdf form

. . . There are millions of Scouts and Scouters in the world. If just 10% of them were able to receive this call for help and send in even a dollar, there would be enough resources to build a world-class Scouting program – and history – in Iraqi, one that would benefit the entire country, the region, and a good part of the world. We can’t reach every Scout and Scouter, but each of us who joins can easily raise more than a dollar. Think Scout Power.

. . . If as many Scout units (Packs, Troops, Crews, Districts, etc.) in the U.S., Europe, and around the world, were to enlist the help of each Scout plus his/her adult leaders, parents, siblings, friends, classmates, teachers, family, co-workers, contacts, etc, this could be “huge.”

. . .

Send the donations, or other contributions to:

THE IRAQI AMERICAN FOUNDATION
Iraqi Scouts Initiative
P.O. Box 1017
Lampasas, Texas 76550

Or make your donation online:

. . . -- Our main goal today is to turn a 40 acre former secret police camp that into a 21st Century Headquarters for the Iraqi Boys and Girl Guides. The land and buildings are such that we plan to build a national headquarters (offices); an international Scouting center that Scouts and leaders from other countries can visit and use; an adult and Scout training facility; small hotel/dormitory and dining facilities for visiting Scouts and Scouters; a No-Trace Camping Ground and Nature Preserve; museum; library; Scout Shop; Jamboree and Sports ground; Scout Outdoor training stations; a Top-Down Climbing Wall; Aquatics Center (650 meters of paved riverfront property on the Tigris; Internet Access Room; theater; and facilities for community service planning, sports, cultural events, and exchange programs. (Estimated cost for construction materials, building supplies, hardware, electric, plumbing, mechanical, furnishings -- $4 Million) We are already beginning the work of demolishing some buildings and clearing the land – a three month project being undertaken by JUMPSTART – a value of about $200,000.

. . . -- Future goals include using the HQS to rebuild numerous Scout Camp facilities around the country (camp grounds and Scout offices). Costs not yet estimated. We are seeking some NGO sponsorship to begin work where security permits.

. . . -- An Endowment for Iraqi Scouting is also a goal, one that will keep it operating, free, and independent for the rest of its existence. (Eventual Goal: $10 Million)

. . . -- Equipment (tents, camping, office) will be needed down the road, but first we want to build the infrastructure that will keep the national program running across the country.

. . . Four months ago, the outside world did not know if Scouting had survived. Even inside Iraq, regional Scouters had long lost contact with each other. Today, all 18 Iraqi Provinces are back in touch with the National Iraqi Scout Council in Baghdad, under the Direction of Dr. Abduillah al-Jumailly. The Iraqi Scouts are back in communication with the World and Arab Scout Organizations, and are on their way to rejoining them as a National Scout Movement. We have 5000 Scouts in Baghdad alone, now, with hundreds more in the Kurdish north, and the distant south. These kids and their communities want a future, not chaos. We can make the difference.

We already have the support of leaders and clerics from around Iraq, to include the Shi’ia, Sunni, Christian, and Kurdish communities.

Remember, Scouting is not just “activities for kids.” It is a method of teaching universally-accepted values that cross ethnic, cultural, national, religious, and human boundaries. It produces future leaders who build, not destroy. Scouting has 50 year history in Iraq and the Arab world, and it is time that we do more to promote the Promise of Scouting, than to yield the floor to extremists who seek only to destroy lives and futures. At few times in history was Scouting more needed than now.

COLLECT THOSE COINS – SUPPORT THE SCOUTS!

Yours in Scouting

Chip Beck

Chairman, Green Zone Council of Volunteer Scouters

Co-Chairman (Baghdad), Iraqi Scout Initiative

Michael Bradle

Chairman, Iraqi American Foundation

Co-Chairman (Texas), Iraqi Scout Initiative

The Iraqi International Foundation was established to foster and strengthen relations between the Iraqi and American people through a series of programs and initiatives.

Our keywords are:

Iraqi International Foundation Iraq Scouts

Iraqi International Foundation Iraqi Scouts

Iraqi International Foundation Iraq Scouting

Iraqi International Foundation Iraqi Scouting

Iraqi International Foundation Boy Scouts

Iraqi International Foundation Boy Scouting