Good Turn Week FAQ
When is Good Turn Week?
Saturday, April 29th to Sunday, May 7th, 2017
What is Good Turn Week?
Good Turn Week is a youth-driven initiative created to inspire every Scout and Canadian alike to emulate Scouting’s virtues and make the effort to deliver simple acts of kindness.
Who participates in Good Turn Week?
Anyone can participate in Good Turn Week by doing a good deed for a friend, family member, colleague, neighbour or the community. Good Turn Week involves Canadians from coast to coast and around the world.
How does Good Turn Week work?
Participating is Good Turn Week is really easy! All you need to do is perform a Good Turn for someone else and encourage the recipient to pay it forward. That person will then do a Good Turn for another person, creating a cycle of goodwill.
What is an example of a Good Turn?
There are countless ways for people to do a Good Turn. Here are just a few examples:
Youth
- Give a parent a night off. Volunteer to babysit for a family member or close friends.
- Put on the family chef’s hat. Pick a meal and help Mom or Dad out in the kitchen.
- Four-legged fun: offer to walk a neighbour or friend’s dog.
- Lend a hand at an after-school program or community centre.
- Yard work: help a neighbour or relative with gardening or raking leaves.
- Help a teacher at school by passing out handouts, putting away chairs or cleaning the blackboards/whiteboards.
Adults
- Donate blood, clothes, food — or give money to charity.
- Volunteer for a community program, or at a local food bank or shelter.
- Help an elderly neighbour with grocery shopping or a household chore.
- Buy a homeless person a meal.
- Make a co-worker’s day: bring in a special snack or lunch for your colleagues.
- Be generous: help someone out who is short of change at the store checkout.
How did Good Turn Week start?
For more than 100 years, youth in Scouting have committed themselves to doing a Good Turn for their neighbours each day. It’s one of the ways that we demonstrate Scouts Canada’s vision – Canadian youth making a meaningful contribution toward creating a better world.
In 2009, Scouting youth began looking for a way to encourage all Canadians to join them in doing a Good Turn. The goal was simple: to create a chain of goodwill that extended all the way across Canada. Their solution was Good Turn Week!
Why do we need Good Turn Week?
In our busy day-to-day lives it can be easy to forget that by helping others we strengthen our communities as a whole. We can always do more for others and Good Turn Week is our chance to remind Canadians that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a powerful difference.
How many Good Turns are expected?
Good Turn Week starts with Scouts Canada’s 100,000 members and engages people across the country. The possibilities are endless!
What are the benefits of doing a Good Turn?
Even the smallest of Good Turns have the power to help shape and change the world in a significant way to make it a friendlier, happier place.
Studies show that performing small acts of kindness not only benefit the recipient but also those performing them. These benefits include an increase in happiness and self-esteem and enabling those suffering from social anxiety to mingle more easily.
How do I share my Good Turn?
Everyone can share their Good Turns on the Good Turn Tracker at Scouts.ca/goodturnweek, or on social media by using the #GoodTurnWeek hashtag and by tagging @ScoutsCanada
What are the Good Turn Week Community Projects?
Scouts Canada believes that Good Turns should not be limited to financial restraints and that is why Scouts Canada started the Good Turn Week Community Project Fund. At the beginning of every Scouting Year, Scouts Canada puts out a call to our Scouting members for Good Turn Week project ideas that impact that community in a positive way. Selected projects receive funding for their Good Turn ideas that take place during Good Turn Week. Find out more
Can I submit a Good Turn Week Community Project idea for Good Turn Week 2017?
Yes you can! The call for applications does not close until December 23rd, 2016. Find out more about how you can apply on the Good Turn Week Community Project Fund page.
What happened to the Good Turn Week Bracelets?
Scouts Canada stopped distributing the bracelets in 2014, and we discovered that people still wanted to do a good deed and did not need to be rewarded for doing so. The core values of Good Turn Week remain the same.
For further questions or inquiries about Good Turn Week, please email: goodturn@scouts.ca.