There was an item in the news last night that a local Boy Scout Troop had its trailer stolen. It was taken from the parking lot of the church in Aurora that sponsors the troop. Troop trailers are used to store and haul all the troop's camping gear to campouts and events. This can be devastating to a troop especially at this time of year when they are doing most of their camping.
You hear a bunch more about this sort of crime recently. A couple years ago, this same thing happened to the troop that my brothers and I were a part of when we were kids; a troop my father and some of his friends started in Miami. At that time, I wrote a blog entry entreating all to please do anything they could to help the troop. I do so again. A car wash is planned for this Saturday at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Aurora located at 1 Del Mar Circle Aurora, CO 80011.
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I plan to be there to offer a donation. The car wash will begin at 08:00 Saturday morning. The forecast is for hot weather, so be sure to get there early!
Scouting is an important part of growing-up for many boys and to have it ruined by this senseless act is tragic! Are times really so tough that people have to steal from children? Being an Eagle Scout as well as a former Scoutmaster, I've been through the process of getting and maintaining camping equipment for a troop. These boys work hard to get the money to buy the equipment and hard to maintain it.
I wish the scouts good luck in their fund raising efforts this weekend and hope that they will soon be prepared to go camping again!
Wherever you are today, I hope that you will take a moment to do something nice for someone in need.
Don Bergquist – July 16, 2010 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA
2 comments:
Thank you so much to everyone that came out to help Troop 101 out Saturday at their Car Wash to help relplace their stolen camping gear. I am the son of Scout Master Doug Jones and the older brother of Senior Patrol Leader Chad Jones. I was a scout for 12 years and made Eagle; it was a very wonderful experience for me and most other scouts out there.
Today Troop 101 raised over $3,000 and a TON of camping equipment thanks to the very generous donations from the community.
This troop unlike any I have ever seen tries to raise the money for everything they need and do; including Summer Camps, Uniforms, Equipment, Food etc. They do not expect any boy (or their family) to front the cost of most of their activities, Therefore everyone's donations (And they're still comming in) are going to a very worthwhile cause. Several phone calls have been placed to the Scoutmaster pledging monatary donations as of now if the pledges hold the troop will be receiving over $10,000 and more camping equipment than they can handle. This excess equipment will be made available to all scouting organizations and scouts in the Denver Area Council and excess funds will be distrubited to each boy's personnal accounts to help pay for camping trips/activites and gear (with commitee oversight). Additional funds will be donated back to the community. You all have done an outstanding service to an outstanding organization and this event has touched the lives of each and every boy and adult in the troop. Again I thank you on behalf of Troop 101.
-Robert Jones-
Robert,
Thank you so much for posting the results of your comments to my blog!
I am so glad to hear that your fundraiser met with such success! I know that my blog didn't play any significant role in that, but I am glad to have helped get the word out.
It has been a few years since I was a scoutmaster (well, quite a few, actually) but I do believe you are correct; I do not know of many troops who raise funds for all their activities so that all boys can participate without the need for the boys and their families to be fiscally responsible. What a great (and inclusive) model!
So rarely do we get to hear the good news that follows the bad; this definitely qualifies! I wish you guys all the best and hope that the rest of the summer will be a fine one for you and the troop. Please forward my best wishes to all!
Thanks again for submitting this follow-up to my blog.
Don
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