Why sell cookies like everybody else to raise money for the group? In Belgium scouts’ groups sell beer. Some scouts’ groups even develop their own labels, and contract the brewing of their beer with established and well respected breweries.
On every feast for the Scouts, be it a parents-day, a theater performance, a simple gathering, ... beer is sold to the audience. Like in a regular restaurant or bar, the profit margin is about 60 to 80 percent. All tax free!

This means that a lot of money can be raised in a short time. Some of these scouts groups have such a large audience, or so many events, that it is profitable for them to contract brew a large amount of beer under their own label. Another advantage is that they can continue to sell the bottled beer after the event.

The immature and intolerant attitudes towards beer in the USA would very probably not permit the sale of beer by kids. In Belgium, the responsible education of children in how to handle and consume beer—in a friendly, family oriented environment—is the policy employed to avoid raising children who have alcohol-related problems in the rest of their lives. Like traffic education: teach the children as soon as possible the dangers and the advantages of something. When you appreciate something you will respect it and handle it with wisdom.
Newsletter February 2000