The Gulf Ridge (Florida) Council’s Play for Real™ truck is ready to hit the streets! As you can see, this brightly colored vehicle wrapped in action images and council logos is a real attention-getter. Scouts surround the truck to show potential new members a variety of activities as they “Play for Real.”

The goal of the truck—which is used at high-volume, high-visibility community events such as parades, festivals, and outdoor events that involve children and families—is to increase the council’s outreach to new members by promoting Scouting as the place where children can “Play for Real.”

For example, the Play for Real recruitment team attended a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game recently and shared information about Scouting with interested families. Youth who completed an interest survey received a Play for Real hacky sack ball.

The council’s Play for Real recruitment team has held six events in urban and rural areas since March and collected nearly 200 interest surveys. Each of these youth members are tracked by the Gulf Ridge staff at monthly staff meetings until that individual youth is placed in a Scouting unit. Email Al Harrell with your questions or ideas.