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This pin and all program supplies are available from our partner site MakingFriends®.com.
Suggested Group Activity
Thank those who help keep your community safe. FreeKidsCrafts.com has a free printable to decorate recycled containers to make gifts for you local firefighters. Some firehouses accept homemade food and snacks. Others can only accept prepackaged edibles so check first before bringing homemade items.
Suggested Prerequisite
Completing the Safety Advocate Patch Program® is a suggested prerequisite for earning your Safety Delegate Pin. Your advocate experience will help provide you with the knowledge needed to become a delegate for safety in your community. You can also opt to complete the Safety Advocate requirements during the time you earn this Delegate pin.
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Requirement 1: Choose It!
Points to Consider When Choosing a Safety Service Project:
- What causes teen car accidents? Helpful Link: Basic Facts About Teen Crashes
- How can they be prevented? Helpful Link: Car Accident Prevention
- How common is underage drinking? Helpful Link: Teen Drinking Stats
- Why is underage drinking unsafe? Helpful Link: Dangers of Teen Drinking
- How can you prevent teens from drinking? Helpful Link: Strategies to Prevent Underage Drinking
- What about teen drug abuse? Helpful Link: Help your teen avoid drugs
- What can be done to reduce drug abuse? Helpful Link: A Community Prevention Intervention To Reduce Youth From Inhaling And Ingesting Harmful Legal Products
- What can be done about teen runaways? Helpful Link: Teenage Runaways: The Facts, Figures And How We Can Help
- What can be done about school gun violence? Helpful Link: Keeping Our Schools Safe
- Is vaping safer than smoking? Helpful Link: Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults
- Which High School sports cause the most injuries? Helpful Link: The most dangerous high school sports
- What types of sport injuries do kids get? Helpful Link:
What Youth and Adolescent Sports Injuries are Most Common? - Can sports injuries be prevented? Helpful Link: 10 Tips for Preventing Sports Injuries in Kids and Teens
- What about concussions? Helpful Link: Mental Health Effects Of Concussions On Adolescents And Teens
Some Ideas:
- Involved kids are safe kids. Start a Youth Squad® group in your neighborhood.
- Organize regular drug and alcohol-free social events for teens in your community.
- Raise money for safer school sports equipment.
- Host a town hall meeting for parents to recognize risky behavior in their children.
- Get your community to set up a ride-share program for impaired drivers.
- Start an initiative to have a bike path put in your community.
- Set up a hotline for kids at risk.
- Organize an unused medication collection in your community.
- Start a school safety program where kids can report unsafe activities anonymously.
- Organize a safe driving campaign in you community.
Project considerations:
- What are your skills and talents?
- Do you need a mentor or adviser? Who will it be?
- Will there be legal or permit issues to resolve?
- How many others can you recruit to help?
- Will your volunteers need special skills or training?
- How many hours can you devote to the project?
- Will there be a project deadline?
- How much money will you be able to raise for the project?
- Can you get a sponsor to help with the costs?
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Requirement 2: Plan it!
Goal Setting
Setting goals will help give you a long-term vision and short-term motivation. It helps you to organize your thoughts and determine exactly what needs to be done.
- Decide exactly what you want to accomplish and give your project a name.
- Break it down into smaller steps.
- Set up a timeline.
Recruit Volunteers
Although smaller projects can be done alone, many projects will require a team. As the project delegate, one of your most important roles will be building a successful team. Helpful Link: 7 Super Steps to Recruit Volunteers.
- Find a mentor with experience in your project area.
- Enlist an Advocate to help you recruit volunteers. Consider using a volunteer release form especially if you are working with children. Helpful Link: Volunteer Release Form
- Decide which jobs you can do alone.
- Will you have teams?
- How many people will you need for each team?
Budgeting
Budgeting allows you to create a spending plan for your project. Sticking to your budget ensures that you will have enough money for the things you need to complete it. If you copied the table above you will see there is a section for budgeting.
Raise Money
There are many ways to raise money. If you are working with an organization such as Girl Scouts* check first to see what is allowed. Helpful Link: A Beginner’s Guide to Fundraising
- Consider GoFundMe, CrowdRise, DonorsChoose, or Kickstarter.
- Organize an event like a car wash, bake sale, or benefit dinner to raise awareness around your fundraiser.
- Host an event such as a walkathon, run, or bike rides.
- Ask local businesses and community members to donate items for a silent auction or a live auction.
- Sales of customized products like tee shirts, pens, and buttons will not only raise funds but generate awareness about your project.
- Invite the local media to your fundraiser or at least supply them with a photo and caption after the event.
Specific ideas for Safety Fundraising
Get clever with your ideas. Think of things related to your cause. It will help bring awareness and set up a “fun” atmosphere, while raising the money you need to complete your cause.
- Make and sell personal first aid kits.
- Wrap tins of bandages with your message and give them away for a suggested donation.
- Convince the school principal or a favorite teacher to have a fake plaster cast put on for a week. Allow students to sign the cast for $1.
- Sell cupcakes with toppers that have a printed safety message.
- Give recognition gifts for sponsorships. Set donation levels such as $20 for a safety delegate pin or $40 for a tee shirt.
- Make and sell child fingerprint kits to parents.
- Ask the local firehouse to give rides on a firetruck in exchange for a donation.
- Organize a community safety street fair and ask safety-related business to rent a table.
- Host a movie night with a show that promotes safety.
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Requirement 3: Do It!
You should now be ready to put your plan into action. Join in during your project to supervise and provide assistance at all levels.
After completing the plan, remember to thank the community.
Ways to say Thank You:
- Personally thank individuals and businesses who helped. A handwritten letter is always nice. Helpful link: How to write a thank you letter.
- Thank the community as a whole with posters.
- Create a follow up press release and include the names of individuals and businesses who participated. Helpful link: How to write a press release.
- Give certificates of appreciation.
- Thank the community as a whole on social media.
Congratulations on completing your safety action project! The Safety Delegate pin makes a great reward for completing your project. It also makes a great gift to program sponsors and mentors.
See all our current Delegate level pin programs:
Related Fun Patch Ideas:
Note: Many of the links provided to assist with completing our Patch Program®s are external and do not imply an endorsement or recommendation. At the time of publication, external content was vetted to the best of our ability. Your views and ideas may vary and we do not intend for you to substitute our opinions for yours. Research the topic thoroughly before beginning a project. As always, make sure children access the internet only under safe-surfing conditions.
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