BUDA — On Saturday, Feb. 22, the trailer belonging to the Buda Cub Scouts Pack 128 was discovered to be missing. Now, the pack is trying to rebuild.
Buda Cub Scouts Pack 128 has existed for many years, with multiple generations of families going through the program.
“Our Cub Scout pack has been around for quite some time in our community in Buda," said Valerie Evans, the committee chair for Cub Scouts Pack 128. “We’ll go out and sell popcorn for fundraising and I will have grown men that [say], ‘Oh my goodness, I was in pack 128 when I was a kid.’ So, it has been around for a very long time.”
Anyone of any gender is allowed to join the Cub Scouts; the only requirement is that they are in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Once in sixth grade, they will be able to join the troop level in Scouting America.
“We prepare young people to make ethical, moral choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath [and] Scout Law,” said Evans.
According to the Scouting America website, the Scout Oath reads: “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
The Scouts Law has 12 points that all scouts try to live up to everyday, which include being: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
Cub Scout Pack 128 typically recruits for new members towards the beginning of the school year.
“We start recruiting at the end of the summer, from about August all the way to October and we reach out to our schools in our community,” said Evans. “We’re based [in] Elm Grove and Carpenter Hill elementary [schools], but we will take scouts from all over Buda or Manchaca, whoever is close to us in our area.”
The pack gives back to the community by collaborating with different organizations for service projects.
“We are constantly looking for different service projects for us to get involved with, but, generally, we just try to teach and instill in the children to be helpful and kind… mindful [and] respectful to the community members around them,” she said.
On Friday, Feb. 21, the trailer that stored the pack’s camping and fundraising supplies was stolen. It was discovered to be missing Saturday, Feb. 22.
“We have a packed trailer and it was stolen from the church that we stored [it] at,” said Evans. “We showed up on Saturday to do another scouting event there at [St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church] and we noticed it was missing. It wasn’t there and there’s another trailer that’s parked there for the troop level [scouts] and that one still remained, but ours was missing.”
“We have not heard from the police since we have made the report and it just could be that it’s a basic, white trailer,” Evans explained. “It’s a six-by-16 foot trailer and there’s no markings on it to separate it from the others.”
She emphasized how important the contents of the trailer were to the pack, especially with the group's Spring Campout coming up in April.
“We cook and eat as a pack family. We will generally make a meal plan for the entire weekend and we will purchase the food and cook a family style meal for everyone,” she continued. “[We had] our large grill, then our large serving tables … We had about six propane tanks in there. All these things were beneficial for our families.”
Despite this setback, the pack is not going to stop what they’re doing and requests community aid to move forward.
“We are looking to replace the items inside. We have raised enough funds with popcorn [sales and] what we’re getting back from our insurance to find a used trailer and be able to purchase one,” said Evans. “But what’s inside is not something that we can afford to replace. So, we are looking for gently used or new items to replace those items that we lost.”
In addition to monetary donations, the pack is accepting donations of items, as well. Some of the items they are looking for include:
• Fishing poles
• Tackle boxes
• Sleeping bags
• Tents
• 3 burner grill
• Iron skillet
“We have 60 kids in our pack and this impacts them all in some kind of way. One thing we all enjoy is going camping together and to have that many families come together and enjoy that special weekend; it’s memorable,” said Evans. “We know that when packs begin, they start with nothing and so, we’re all willing to come together and build back up, but we also know that a lot of families have been a part of our scouting community and we’re hoping that those memories that they have had impact them enough to where they’re wanting to help us rebuild what we have lost.”
To donate to the Buda Cub Scouts Pack 128, visit https://bit.ly/4kqJt5D or email [email protected]. For more information about the Cub Scouts, visit www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts.
