HAMLET — Scouts assembled at the McLaurin Center on Bridges Street Monday night to help the Richmond County Backpack Pals — a tradition they began only a few years ago.
“There’s one Cub Scout Pack, 527 from Hamlet,” said Cubmaster Dorothy Moore. “We meet at Fellowship United Methodist Church. I think (Greg Shelley) said they had to pack 580-some packs tonight.”
The Back Pack Pals fill bags with food each week that go home with students who might not have much to eat over the weekends or when school is closed.
“We do it every year,” Moore explained. “I’m not sure if this is our third or fourth year. Actually, the first year that we did it, the woman who made our shirts was involved in this, and when I went to pick up our shirts she asked me if we’d be willing to take a week. That’s how we got started.”
She said the boys weren’t there for pats on the back or merit badges.
“It’s just a service project to help the community,” Moore said. “They don’t get anything for it — we just do it. This is the first year that Cub Scouts has accepted kindergartners in the child program, so we have kindergarten through fifth grade. So, 5 to 11 year olds.”
Cooper McDonald said he enjoys doing his part to help.
“I’m 10 years old and I go to L.J. Bell,” he said, introducing himself. “We do it because some kids’ parents don’t have enough money for food, and they need it. You have to pack all the bags, but you’re doing something for a good cause.”
While the room was filled primarily with boys, there were plenty of big and little sisters helping right alongside.
“Everything we do as a pack, we do with the family,” Moore said. “When we camp, we take sisters and mamas. We all do everything together.”
Tristan Dawkins, who attends Monroe Avenue Elementary School, said gathering bags for people who “only have a little bit of food at home, to give them something to eat over the weekend,” is important to him. He has done this before, he explained.
“I would get a bag and put, like, one of each thing in it,” he said when asked for tips on how to fill the bags. “We’ve got to tie the bags after that, then we put them in the big box.”
By the time they were finished, the box was full of bags ready to be distributed to local schools.
Reach reporter Melonie McLaurin at 910-817-2673 and follow her on Twitter @meloniemclaurin.