Support Scouting
Support Our Future Leaders
At the heart of Scouting beats a relentless commitment to shaping the leaders of tomorrow. Across our great nation, through the Scouting program, young people are instilled with core values such as honesty, leadership, and service — values that our country yearns for now, more than ever.
At the Chickasaw Council, it is only through the generosity of individuals and organizations throughout our region that we’re able to offer the Scouting program to more than 7,300 Scouts and more than 4,000 volunteers.
Without your support, many of these Scouts would not have access to the positive experience of Scouting and a better opportunity to prepare for the future.
From cash donations to event sponsorships and popcorn purchases to benefit banquets, you can choose whatever way feels right to support the Chickasaw Council and our Scouts and volunteers.
Where Your Support Goes
All Scouts and Scouters pay annual membership fees ($85 and $65, respectively), but those fees go to the national organization, Scouting America, not to the councils. Some Scouting units may also choose to collect dues, but that revenue stays within the unit to help defray costs of activities, equipment, and supplies.
The Chickasaw Council, like all 248 Scouting councils, is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is largely funded through a combination of private support from individuals and organizations and revenue from programs like summer camps.
The Council provides a wide variety of services and benefits to our Scouts, Scouters, and units including:
Unit accident and liability insurance
Two well-maintained camp properties
The W.B. Dunavant Scout Service Center
The Memphis Scout Shop
Dedicated professional and support staff
Year-round programs & activities, including low-cost summer camp programs
Youth & adult training opportunities
Youth & adult recruitment programs
Comprehensive volunteer background checks
Unit and Council-wide support & communication, including council website and monthly newsletter
PHOTO: Golightly All-faiths Chapel at Kia Kima
Invest In Character with Friends of Scouting
Friends of Scouting is an annual campaign by the Chickasaw Council to inspire direct financial support from individuals, businesses, and nonprofits throughout the area we serve. These gifts help us deliver on the promise of Scouting for thousands of youth in the Mid-South.
Donations can be made as one-time gifts or recurring monthly gifts and can given online or via check.
Friends of Scouting gifts may also honor or memorialize a loved one, colleague, mentor, or friend. If you choose, the Council will notify the honoree or his or her family of your gift.
Each spring, the Friends of Scouting Campaign kicks off with a fundraising luncheon attended by hundreds of Scouters and supporters.
Attend a Special Event
The Chickasaw Council hosts several special fundraising events each year designed both to raise money to help us deliver the Scouting promise and to honor community members for extraordinary contributions of time, talent, and treasure.
Distinguished Citizens Award Dinner
Every fall, the Chickasaw Council hosts a dinner to celebrate the contributions of a special honoree. For 2025, our Distinguished Citizen is Karl Schledwitz, who will by honored beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30 at the Memphis Country Club.
Lewis Williamson was the Council’s 2024 Distinguished Citizen.
Friends of Scouting LunchEON
Held in the spring, the Friends of Scouting Luncheon marks the beginning of the Chickasaw Council’s annual Friends of Scouting campaign. Attendees make gifts or pledges to the campaign, hear from a distinguished speaker, and get an update on the state of Scouting in the council. The 2025 speaker was Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee System, and a former Scoutmaster and president of the Great Smoky Mountain Council.
Break Some Clays For Scouting
Among the Council’s most anticipated fundraising events is the fall Sporting Clays Classic at the Memphis Sport Shooting Association. Beginning in 2025, a second event has been added in the Delta at Beulah Land Sporting in McCarley, Mississippi.
Sporting Clays Classic
The annual Sporting Clays Classic brings together Scouting supporters each fall at the Memphis Sport Shooting Association for a day of friendly competition to benefit Scouting in the Mid-South.
The 2025 Classic begins with a reception and auction at the Bass Pro Pyramid the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 19. Shooting is Thursday, Nov. 20, with a morning flight at 8:30 and an afternoon flight at 12:30. Registration is open to teams of four at three different sponsorship levels.
Delta Sporting Clays Classic
First held in 2025, the Delta Sporting Clays Classic supports Scouting in the Mississippi Delta. The event is held at Beulah Land Sporting in McCarley, Mississippi.
The 2025 Delta Classic is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 25, starting at 8 a.m. Teams are encouraged to bring golf carts or side-by-sides for use on the course.
Become a Merit Badge Partner
Market your business while helping youth! The Chickasaw Council offers businesses and community organizations the opportunity to directly impact the lives of youth in the Mid-South through our Merit Badge Partnership Program, presented by AutoZone! There are more than 135 merit badges offered in the Scouts BSA program, so potential partners are sure to find one (or more) relating to their area of expertise or interest.
Current Merit Badge Partners
AutoZone — Automotive Maintainance merit badge
International Paper — Pulp & Paper merit badge
Bland Property Management — Salesmanship merit badge
Presenting Sponsor
Help Fund Scouting by Buying Popcorn & Meat Sticks
Although all proceeds from Scouts’ annual famous popcorn fundraiser go straight to their units, not the Council, buying popcorn (and now meat sticks too!) is among the highest impact ways you can support Scouting in the Mid-South.
Not only can many units fund their entire year of Scouting with this one sale, but participation also teaches important life skills such as goal setting, salesmanship, communication, teamwork, time management, and more.
Funds raised are often used to help cover the cost of Scouting America membership fees, uniforms, advancement, and summer camp.
Popcorn sales run from September through November, and meat stick sales are in March and April.