The Local Council

Each Cub Scout pack is supported by a BSA local council, a nonprofit corporation whose voting membership may include active members at large and the chartered organization representatives of the units it serves. The council does not provide service directly to individual boys. Rather, it offers a program to chartered organizations that operate Cub Scout packs, providing a number of common resources for all packs in a specific geographic area. In some areas, councils divide their territory into districts, which provide direct-to-unit service to a smaller number of units.

Your local council and its districts support your pack by

  • Providing a support team of volunteer commissioners and professional Scouters to see that packs get the advice and help they need for pack operation
  • Making council facilities and camps available
  • Making program materials, literature, planning tools, and other program aids available
  • Providing, through the local council service center, all required badges and insignia that packs can purchase
  • Raising funds for the operation of the Scouting program
  • Keeping records of pack leaders' training and pack members' advancement
  • Working with the chartered organizations to offer Scouting to the greatest possible number of youth and families
  • Providing training opportunities for Cub Scout leaders, including Basic Leader Training, Youth Protection training, roundtables, and other supplemental training opportunities
  • Providing information on and help with membership and recruiting programs
  • Providing large council activities to enhance the pack program, such as Scouting shows, Cub Scout/Webelos Scout day camp, and Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camp
  • Providing local Scouting distributors that stock uniforms, equipment, literature, and other materials for purchase by packs and Cub Scout families
  • Providing recognition and awards for leaders
  • Informing packs of new resources, program materials, and policies developed by the National Council
  • Representing the interests of units in the council's area by selecting representatives to serve as voting members of the National Council