It doesn't get much worse than stealing from Cubs Scouts.
“When I opened that shed and the track was gone, my heart sank,” Cubs Scout Pack Master James Clark said.
Pack 443 kept their $1,800 Pinewood Derby track inside a locked shed behind the Spring Hill VFW 102109.
But sometime over the last couple of weeks, thieves busted in and took the track. It wasn’t discovered until the Pack 443 showed up Saturday for the district meet. The Cub Master said they likely had no idea what they were stealing.
“I feel that it was taken merely for scrap aluminum,” Clark said.
“I just thought that it wasn’t really nice of them to steal something from the Cubs Scouts,” Cub Scout Landon Mikrut said.
Fortunately the scouts were able to borrow another pack’s track to make it through the district meet. But losing their most expensive item was a serious setback.
“The parents were extremely upset. The scouts have worked various fundraisers for two years to save that money to buy that track,” Clark said.
But the race isn’t over yet.
Word got out about the pack’s predicament. And in just a matter of hours, four local business leaders stepped up with the cash to replace the track.
“Their families keep us in business, so it’s the least we can do to return some of that money, some of that business back to the community to help however we can," Robert Parker with ECP Drafting said.
Along with ECP Drafting, Taddeo Electric, Hoopers Concrete and Seggie Custom Builders are also pitching in to buy a new track.
“I was just flabbergasted that the local community would come in like that and just make us whole again. It was very heartwarming,” Clark said.
Hundreds of kids used the track that is now gone.
And now thanks to community spirit, the scouts are back in business and ready to race for years to come.
