Cub Scouts Sell Popcorn to Fund the Teaching of Leadership & Life Skills
Cub Scout Luke Somerville selling popcorn outside of the Manchester Market. Photo courtesy of Lisa Somerville.
If you ran errands last weekend and they involved stopping at the Manchester Market, Old National Bank, Marathon Gas or Manchester True Hardware, you may have encountered Cub Scouts selling popcorn. These 1st through 5th graders will be selling popcorn most weekends in October. This money is used to pay for registration and expenses that come up in Scouting so that all boys can participate regardless of their family's financial situations.
More than 70% of the money paid for popcorn this month will go to the Scouts, 55% of it to the local Boy Scout Council and 45% directly to Manchester Pack 421. Manchester Pack 421 will use this to pay for the Cub Scouts' registrations, subscriptions to Boy's Life magazine, awards and advancements, training for the leaders and events like camping, the Pinewood Derby, sporting events, banquets, and more. The money that goes to the council also benefits our local boys as it is used to pay for maintaining and insuring camp properties, council insurance, the Scout Store in Ypsilanti, running trainings and council expenses.
Cub Scout mom, Lisa Somerville, wants everyone to know how much their support of Cub Scouts benefits the boys in our community. She stated, "For a small town, we have a very robust and active Scouting organization. Our Pack is fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers supporting our boys and giving them great Scouting experiences."
She went on to quote Rachal Carson, Manchester's Unit Serving Executive for Boy Scouts of America, as well as a mother of four boys involved in scouting, and a devoted den leader of many years, “Scouting uses a fun program to promote character development, citizenship training, personal fitness, outdoor skills and awareness, and last but not least leadership and life skills. There is not another youth program that will offer young boys these experiences.”
On selling popcorn in front of the Manchester Market, Somerville related, "We take pleasure when we hear people tell us they have already supported the Cub Scouts by buying popcorn from a son, grandson, nephew, friend or neighbor. It’s comforting to be a part of such a generous and caring community. Last week while we were selling, a very kind person brought us hot chocolate and another brought Luke a fresh cookie from the Manchester Market."
Luke Somerville, a 5th Grade Cub Scout in Pack 421 wrote this letter to the editor explaining why he sits out in freezing cold, wet weather raising money for his pack:
My name is Luke Somerville, and I have been a Cub Scout since 3rd grade when I became a Bear. Now I am in 5th grade, and I am a Webelo II. I have enjoyed Cub Scout camp and camping a lot. Cub Scouts has been really fun. We have learned great tips about camping and fire safety. We also learn a lot about safety in general. We have learned about bike safety and other home safety things. We don’t just learn about things, we do a lot of playing as well. We did a badge about fitness and I earned a soccer badge, a snowboarding and skiing badge. Cub Scouts also help the community. We do a food drive in November and we collect lots of food for Manchester Family Services.
It would be really great if you bought some popcorn. We are trying to sell enough popcorn so all the kids in my pack can go to camp. Some families don’t want to join Cub Scouts because of the cost. That is sad. I want to make sure money doesn’t ever keep a kid from being a Scout. If you have a son, it would be great if he joined Scouts too.
Angie Lutes (one of the Scout Moms) looked at it in an interesting way. She said that by buying popcorn you get to support Cub Scouts with an added bonus of a bag of really good popcorn!
If you know a boy interested in joining the Cub Scout Pack 421 in Manchester, contact Jeff Foulke at ftrux@aol.Com or 734-323-3771.
Photos courtesy of Lisa Somerville:
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