<p>A dear friend’s son made Eagle Scout, and invited us to a reception held at a church. I believe the installation already occurred based on what I’ve seen on FB. Unfortunately, we will be out of town. What kind of gift is appropriate, if any? Check? Donation in honor of his accomplishment? A typical teenage boy gift? The young man attends a Catholic school, the family is quite religious, he is a junior in hs and his project had to do with restoring a community garden of some sort (I’m not clear on the details). He was exceedingly close to his grandfather who recently passed away, who had helped him with the project. Just not sure what is the norm here.</p>
<p>As the mom of two eagle scouts, at least in my community, gifts are quite rare. Recently, we have taken to framing the Eagle Scout announcement that shows up in our local paper (usually a long write up), but generally we just write a note congratulating the child.</p>
<p>I should add my husband is an Eagle Scout as well and thinks gifts are unnecessary even for our closest friends’ children.</p>
<p>So just a warmly written note of congratulations is fine? I don’t want to make a faux pas and overdo it!</p>
<p>From my perspective, yes just a note is fine. My son got a few gifts, a nice pocket knife, a few other trinkets, but really those were the exception.</p>
<p>I will be curious to see if anyone pipes in with anything different. Sometimes things are regional, but my sense is that in this case, everywhere gifts are not the norm.</p>
<p>My son got a couple of cash gifts, and small items like key chains, etc. mostly from Scout leaders and close friends. Just a card or note is fine, that is mostly what he received and were much appreciated.</p>
<p>My son got mostly congratulatory cards but also a few checks or gift cards. In our area, it’s usually done in their senior year of HS, so many families and guests are anticipating a grad party too. Since most Eagle Scouts have been scouts for most of their lives, the boys have everything camping related they need. As a parent, I wish I had gotten my son the special Eagle Scout ring as he probably would have worn it longer then the long forgotten HS ring.</p>
<p>When my 2 nephews made Eagle, we (and others) gave checks. Nothing super huge since you’re not related. $50 would be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks - very helpful!
In addition to a card, would a donation to a charity I know this young man would support be appropriate?</p>
<p>As an Eagle myself, I would say that a card is appropriate for anyone, a small gift (possibly something from NESA, the National Eagle Scout Association) would be fine if they are close family or friends, definitely nothing large unless you are the parent or extremely close - making Eagle is (in my mind) diminished if it becomes another avenue for excessive gift-giving.</p>
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Rather than an exact amount, I would consider it to be an occasion meriting a gift (if any) of lesser value than you would do for the same person for their birthday. Scale it to your means, and remember that no gift at all is certainly acceptable.</p>
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Again, I would say that it is not necessary, but a gift to a charity in recognition of their achievement would indeed be appropriate. Remember that the Eagle Award is, among other things, a recognition of the recipients charity, so a card and a small donation would be an excellent choice. An award for dedication and morality would (IMO) be cheapened by the sight of the new Eagle with a pile of gifts. There are other occasions for such.</p>
<p>My son received no gifts that I know of, other than those presented by the Scoutmaster and one of the Assistant Scoutmasters who he was especially close to- and even those were scouting-related tokens. And he had a huge Eagle ceremony. We haven’t given gifts to the Eagle scouts in his cohort, either.
I would send a nice congratulatory note with regrets that you can’t attend.</p>
<p>When there is a reception held, usually gifts (money or physical gifts) are given, at least from where I’m from (Calif and the South).</p>
<p>^^^How interesting. I guess it depends on where you live. I’m in SoCal, and gifts aren’t common, even with a large reception like we had.
One of the nice things about our scouting experience is it was one of the lower cost extracurriculars around, which enabled a lot of kids from lower income families to participate. My son’s troop tried to keep things involving the troop as inexpensive as possible, so maybe our custom of not giving gifts reflects that. A gift of $50 would have been a hardship for many.</p>
<p>My boyfriend received trinkets related to his project. They are still scattered around his condo.</p>
<p>If you give a donation To a charity, put it in the names of the Scout and his grandfather.</p>
<p>Our son did get some random Eagle Scout-related gifts, though they were completely unnecessary. Not everyone at the reception gave a gift. Believe he would tell you a book about leadership (don’t recall author/title) that was nicely inscribed from a family friend was very meaningful. I have ‘copied’ the idea and have also given leadership books to a couple of Eagles.</p>
<p>This is all extremely helpful; my son was not in Scouting (beyond “basic” Cub Scouting level) so I’m not familiar with the protocol. Thanks to all who have provided input.</p>
<p>I am from the South, still live there, and I just checked with a couple of Eagle Scout moms. We all had receptions after the ceremony and our kids received very few gifts. </p>
<p>It just isn’t viewed as a gift giving ceremony here.</p>
<p>H is an assistant scoutmaster and he gives the following to boys in the troop who he either mentored during their project or when they were a patrol leader:</p>
<p>[The</a> United States Mint · Mint Programs](<a href=“Commemorative Coins | News Image Library | U.S. Mint”>Commemorative Coins | News Image Library | U.S. Mint)</p>
<p>He picked up around 10 when they were issued. </p>
<p>It is my understanding, however, that gifts are NOT necessary from invitees. (very appropriate question, as S1 is getting is Eagle in 2 weeks and my mom wants a gift idea and doesn’t like my answer of ‘nothing’).</p>
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Family does not need a reason to give family a gift. If your mother wants to do so, I see no reason not to, but I would not expect it from anyone.</p>
<p>As a side note, when I got my Eagle, the troop (or council, or national) sent notification to a variety of organizations, some of which responded by sending congratulations, some of which did a little more. The Marine Corps League in particular sent someone to the ceremony to present me with a Kabar knife which I still have - cannot help but wonder what he thought of my then shoulder-length hair.</p>
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That is an excellent gift. Part of the reason I recommend things from NESA is that they are good symbols of what has been achieved, without being the kind of gift that seems like a monetary-type reward.</p>