Popcorn

For Parents

If you have any questions, call Ron 'Popcorn Kernel' Olmsted at (619)-206-7482 or email Rjolmsted99@gmail.com. 🙂🍿 Thanks for your hard work!

Why Do We Sell Popcorn?

Simple answer…. Because Scouting is powered by popcorn.

This fundraiser is the primary means for Scouts to raise money to fund not only the Mobile Area Council and Pack 84’s annual events and activities, but their own Scouting year as well.

That’s right parents, your Scout will be able to earn money throughout this fundraiser to pay for their annual Scouting expenses AND earn Amazon gift cards. Additionally, they will be eligible for weekly drawings and end of sale prizes too.

Here are some 2023 popcorn statistics:

• The Mobile Area Council did over $175,000 in popcorn sales last year as a group.

  • $60,000 of that was pad out to the Packs as their commission

  • $118,000 of it was returned directly to scouting in the form of. rewards, awards, outings, etc.

• Nationally

  • The average unit sales were $8,403

  • 33% of the units made up 89% of the sales across the nation

  • The average Scout sold $788

  • 27% of Scouts made up 72% of the sales across the nation

Pack 84 averaged $387.40 per Scout, powered by the top five sellers in the Pack.

Where does the money go?

First and foremost, cash donations collected go directly back your Scout! That’s right parents, any money collected as a cash donation goes into your scout’s scout account to pay for things like dues, extra outings, etc.

Pack 84’s commission is 35%, which means that 35% of every dollar you make goes right back to us, Pack 84! This is how we are able to keep dues down, pay for camping outings, awards, and run the various events throughout the year.

The rest of the money goes to:

1. Funding the Pack’s expenses

2. Scout dues and related expenses

3. Area Council-funded experiences

4. Awards ceremonies

5. Adventures

6. Event supplies and materials

7. Making scouting awesome for each and every one of us

How to Start Selling

Download the Trail's End app from either Google Play or the Apple App Store as soon as possible! Log into your child's account, or create a new account using either the unit code DCPVS or manually setting the unit to Mobile Area Council > Five Rivers District > Pack 84. We use this app to manage all popcorn sales for each Scout.

Forgot your login info? Don’t create a second account! Simply follow the forgot password steps so you are not duplicated in the system. If you have issues or trouble with Trails End, please see Ron so he can sort it out.

Once you've set up the app, your Scout can sell popcorn a few different ways:

Storefront Sales

We have dedicated dates and time slots (2-hour shifts) reserved at a variety of local stores throughout the sales event that you can sign up for via the Trails End app's Storefront tab. These are Pack-sponsored sales events and require motivation and effort to raise as much money as we can. There will be limited openings at each location, but ample opportunity for each and every Scout to participate.

Trust me, if you guys start complaining that there are not enough storefront sales opportunities, then we have a good problem and will gladly go find more!

If anyone of our parents have an "in" at a great retail location or event, please let Ron know so he can book it.

• Ron will remind everyone at each meeting of what storefront opportunities we have coming up and how many spots are available.

• Last year Mobile Area Scouts worked 1,160 hours and sold $90,280.79 at those storefront sales.

THAT IS $77.83 PER HOUR!

Our pack organizes in-person sales where Scouts gather together at a high-traffic area to promote Scouting and sell popcorn to the public. To join in (and get credit from those sales sent to your Scout's account), simply sign up in the Trail's End app's Storefront tab.

During a storefront sale all cash donations collected will be split evenly between the Scouts that worked that shift.

Wagon Sales

If anyone wants to coordinate their own ‘wagon sale’ in their neighborhood, church, parents place of business, little league field, etc., to directly sell physical product, you can coordinate that with Ron a few days ahead of time. He will arrange to get you your popcorn and make sure you are comfortable with selling via the Trails End app. You will sign for your popcorn and get some simple instructions, and simply return unsold product and cash to Ron at the next meeting. These sales are a great way for your scout to get concentrated sales and take on more responsibility.

Online Sales

Either post a link to your Scout's custom URL or a picture of your Scout's QR code from the Trails End app or Portal.Trails-End.com to your social media pages with a nice post about this epic opportunity to support Scouts! Your friends and family can order or donate directly using that URL or QR code: