Day Fifty-Five: Food Drive

Today was a good day to be involved in scouting. My eight Wolf Cubs, five parents, five various siblings and two red wagons set out to canvas our neighborhood in search of canned goods to donate to our local food bank. In groups of two, we split the area in half and in 45 minutes we had four large boxes of food to help those in need.

The kids were a riot. They just had been through the neighborhood two nights ago for trick-or-treating. All the short cuts were familiar and the paths well worn. They ran from house to house like they were filling their own goody sacks and not the red wagon with canned goods. The boys took turns knocking on doors and asking for donations. No matter how many times we went over the correct thing to say, most times the request came out as "do you have any food for poor people that you don't need to put in the 'fridge?" I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

I was quite tired from traveling up and down long driveways and hills. I know I'm not in the best shape, but I had to pull the wagon out of a ravine once and pull it uphill full of kids and cans at least three or four times. The kids, on the other hand, were still raring to go once we got back to the house. I celebrated their hard work and generosity with pizza, a backyard fire and lots of oreos. They, in turn, celebrated being kids on a warm fall afternoon by jumping in leaves, playing tag, brandishing play swords (not so Scout friendly, I know) and skateboarding up and down our driveway.

All in all, I have to say, I feel really good about today. I helped teach these boys something about helping others in need and a little bit about teamwork. I am sure that it was fun for them, so when we move onto the next community project, they will look forward to participating. If this is all they get out of scouting from now until next May, then I think I have done a good job. Given the great group of kids I have, I am sure there will be many other things to enjoy along the way. In the meantime, I'll be stocking up on oreos and light sabers just to make sure.