Avenue of the Flags


Please e-mail me as to which of these times you are able and willing to help. - Al


MEMORIAL DAY MAY 25
MORNING
EVENING

FLAG DAY JUNE 14(SUN)
MORNING
EVENING

INDEPENDENCE DAY (SAT)
MORNING
EVENING

LABOR DAY SEPT 7
MORNING
EVENING

VETERANS DAY NOV 11 (WED)
MORNING
EVENING



The Optimist Club is starting a new project called Avenue of Flags and has offered Troop 560 a chance to raise Funds for our Troop. The club sells yearly subscriptions for the Optimists to place 3' X 5' US flags in front of your home for 5 national holidays each year.  The cost is currently $40 for the entire year.

Troop 560 Presentation by The Optimist Club – January Committee meeting

The Avenue of the flags is a fundraising and service project of the Tuesday Noon Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids. We place 3' x 5' United States flags in front of subscriber's homes on 5 national holidays each year, Memorial Day, Flag Day (June14th), The 4th of July, Labor Day and Veteran's Day (November 11th). The flags are attached to a 10' metal pole which is placed into a previous placed metal receptacle 24” from the curb directly out from the front door of the home. The receptacle is placed at ground level so as not to impede walking or lawn care. The Optimists would store the flags after each holiday and provide you with “route sheets” before each holiday.

Youth groups or youth support groups, such as yourselves, will benefit from the project as will the Tuesday Noon Optimist Club. Our Optimist club will “contract out” the delivery and pick up of the flags on the specified holidays. Optimist would provide all of the necessary resources. An opportunity for more funds for your group also exists if you choose to “sell” the flags door to door in neighborhoods specified by the Optimists.

Here are the samples of how your group could raise funds:
Example uses 60 homes.

Flags placed 60 x $3 Payment for flag = Payment for Holiday $180 x 5 Holidays = $900 Annual funds to you. If your organization chooses to use the above option only, it may be another year before the Optimists are able to “contract out” a neighborhood to you. The neighborhood chosen at that time, may or may not be the Bowman Woods area, depending on whether or not the Optimists have chosen that neighborhood in 2009 or 2010.

If your organization chooses to sell the flags door to door, it should also make a commitment to sell door to door in future years to “fill in the gaps” in the remainder of your neighborhood.
60 x $4 = $240 x 5 = $1200

Optimists would send a renewal form to each homeowner each spring. Your group would be paid $4 for that home, each holiday, each year, for as long as each subscriber continued to renew their subscription and Troop 560 continued to deliver and remove the flag. Optimists will provide you with all the necessary tools and resources to sell door to door.

Sale of Subscriptions

  • Sell in specified neighborhoods only, as designated by the Optimists.
  • Minimum of 50 must to sold on designated streets.
  • All revenue (checks and cash from the homeowner) would be payable to the Optimists. Your group would then be paid on a quarterly basis.
  • Optimists will provide brochures explaining the project that you would then give to the homeowner during the sales call. We will also provide a letter from the Optimists explaining our “partnership” with Troop 560.
  • Optimists will provide you with a sample flag for your door to door sales.
  • Your organization would first concentrate on four primary streets in the Bowman Woods 2 and 3 area....Berkshire, Normandy, Hampshire and Boyson Road in the first year. We feel strongly that keeping with the “Avenue” theme is very important. Efficiencies in time will determine how far out you can go....keeping in mind that you must deliver your flags in about 1 hours time. Eventually, you will need more that 1 delivery team. Again, in subsequent years we would expect you to “fill in the gaps” of each street.
  • Door to door sales will require considerable “follow-up” and “follow-thru” on the initial sales.
  • Optimists will handle all annual renewals.
  • All your group has to do is make the initial sale to new subscribers each year.
  • Optimists will provide a short sales training session to assist with door to door sales.


Delivery and Pick up of Flags

  • Homeowner does not have to be home for delivery.
  • Your “team leader” (60 flags) will pick up flags at the storage facility.
  • All flag installations should be made by 7 am and picked up before dark.
  • Delivery requires a vehicle that will hold up to 60, 10ft. Long flag poles.
  • Delivery (and pick up) teams would consist of a driver and 2 or 3 walkers. It will take approximately 1 hour for this team to deliver 60 to 75 flags.
  • Your “team leader” would be responsible for checking receptacles occasionally during the summer to make sure the receptacles are visible and the curb is painted accordingly.
  • Optimists would provide your group with all subscriber's addresses before each holiday.


“Team Leader”

  • This person would communicate with the Optimists Club's liaison.
  • This person would be responsible for organization, manpower, checking of receptacles (as needed), and general communication with Optimist liaison.
  • The obvious responsibility is to make sure the flags get put up at dawn and down at dusk on all 5 holidays.
  • This person would work with Optimists liaison about any customer concerns and/or specific instructions.
  • This person would work with the liaison to make sure your group gets paid.
  • This person would find someone in your group to assist the Optimists in placement of the receptacle when the time comes. This does not take long. About 30 or 40 can be placed in a little over an hour. Primarily, we need a representative from your club to get a feel for the location and placement of at least a half dozen receptacles to familiarize you with the placement in case there are any “customer” concerns later on.


What the Tuesday Noon Optimists will provide...

  • Flag manufacturing and maintenance.
  • Flag storage.
  • Receptacle placement and curb marking.
  • Quality control.
  • Optimist “liaison” to help in any way we can.
  • Collection of all revenue.
  • Complete and updated “route sheets” for your neighborhood.
  • Send out renewal forms for each subscriber each year.
  • Provide sales brochures for your sales team.
  • Assist with “efficiencies”.


The Tuesday Noon Optimist Club is excited about the developing partnership with Troop 560 on this project. Please keep in mind that this will be our first of many “partnerships” we would develop with the Avenue of Flags project. In five years, we hope to be delivering over 1,000 flags with the help of organizations such as yours. There will undoubtedly be small hurdles for both our groups to jump in the next year.
Manhour pay...Based on 60 flags per hour....delivered and 60 per hour pickup. 4 people per 60 x2 delivery and pickup = 8 man hours per holiday x 5 holidays = 40 manhours $1200 divided by 40 hours = $30 per hour.

Pancake Breakfast
At the local elementary school, Troop 560 has an annual Pancake Breakfast, where it's all you can eat of pancakes, eggs, and sausage.  Many scouts and adults volunteer their time to serve customers, cook the food, or clean the tables.

Popcorn
In the fall the Scouts of Troop 560 sell gourmet popcorn.  The Scouts are recommended to sell to family, friends, and neighbors.  Some even go door to door selling popcorn or set up a table at a busy grocery store to attract customers.  A percentage of profits on the popcorn sold goes to the troop, and a percentage also goes into an account for the individual to help pay for campout fees or high adventures.  Many scouts participate in selling popcorn.  A popcorn participation patch is also available for those who sell popcorn.  Depending on how much a scout sells, he may choose from a variety of popcorn prizes as a bonus.  When selling popcorn, the customers place the order and the popcorn is delivered at a later date.  Customers are asked to pay when they order.

Greenery
At about the same time that popcorn is being sold, Scouts also has an opportunity to sell greenery.  Like popcorn, Greenery is usually sold to family, friends, and door to door.  The products that are sold are usually popular due to the holidays. Most scouts prefer selling popcorn to greenery, but it does help sales because not all troops sell greenery.  They range from wreaths to ornamental fence lining.  Many people buy them for holiday wreaths.