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| The 9th Welland Scout Group was busy collecting food and money donations from shoppers at local supermarkets for the Open Arms Mission. Third-year Cub Jaevin Spero (middle) and first-year Beaver Arik Rae (right) collect a donation from Donna Labute outside Food Basics on Thorold Road. |
The 9th Welland Scout Group was on a mission last weekend. More than 40 youths participated in a local food drive collecting donations for the Open Arms Mission on Fifth Street.
Scout leader, Kevin White, says there were members from “Beavers all the way through to Rovers” involved in the project.
“They went to Pupos, Food Basics, No Frills, Freshco and Walmart,” he says. “They collected food donations and cash donations for Open Arms Mission.”
He says the event was a big success.
“We will be presenting the Open Arms with a cheque for close to $3500 next Wednesday. Plus at least two full cargo vans of food were packed from the floor to the roof, with more items in a third van.”
Donna Labute of Welland was one of the shoppers who supported the Scouts on the weekend. She says initiatives like this help teach the children important values.
“I think it is important to support what they are trying to do,” she says. “It is important to help people who are less fortunate, definitely, and it teaches the children values and how to think about others.”
White says Scouters have a reputation for doing good deeds and they wanted to help the city in a big way.
“Scouts are always known for doing their good deeds. We don’t call them good deeds anymore; we call them good turns. The month of March and beginning of April was our good turn campaign and we wanted to do something special,” White says. “This food drive is our good turn back to the city of Welland.”
Helping the community is an important part of the scouting program, says White.
“In Scouts, for example, we teach citizenship and this is part of it. There is an element that they are required to do 30 hours of community service in order to get their chief scout award so this falls into that category too.”
White stresses Scouting benefits not only the community, but the individuals in the pack.
“They are our future leaders of the community,” he says. “They need to know from the ground up what it is like to be a real member of the community.”
Scouts Canada is a non-profit organization offering programs for youth between the ages of 5-26. Visit www.scouts.ca for more information on how to get involved.
Published in Niagara This Week (Welland) -April 14, 2011
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