Cub Scouts give back to community

By: GARY BASS - For The Californian | Saturday, September 2, 2006 10:27 PM PDT ∞

LAKE ELSINORE ---- A group of boys from Cub Scout Pack 332 learned Saturday morning that there is more to scouting than fun, games, camping trips, hikes, racing Pinewood Derby cars and earning merit badges. Under the supervision of their pack leaders, the Cub Scouts painted a colorful 35-foot-by-15-foot map of the United States on the playground at the Lake Elsinore Unified School District's Withrow Elementary campus as part of their ongoing community service.

"We're painting this map for a boy here at Withrow Elementary that is wheelchair-bound and can't do outdoor activities," said Luanne Vicnaire, the committee chairwoman for Pack 332. "The people here at Withrow Elementary came up with some activities that the boy can do using this map and asked us to come out and paint it.

"They'll also have some activities where the whole school can use the map to make learning fun and interesting."

Stewart Moore, the Cubmaster for Pack 332, said that after he became the adult leader of the Scouts about a year ago, he and the other leaders decided to shift the pack's focus more toward community service.

"For the boys that plan to continue on through the ranks to become Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts, community service is a very vital part of the process," he said. "If they ever get to the point where they're trying to make Eagle Scout, the review board will look at what kind of community service they've done over the years and ask, 'What all have you done to help your community?'"

At that point, the Scouts can point to the community service they did as Cub and Boy Scouts, Moore said. Because of that, the adult leaders of Pack 332 keep track of how much community service each boy does.

"It's pretty cool," said 9-year-old Jacob Moore, a fourth-grader. "We get to paint, and while we're doing it, we're helping a boy that has to sit in a wheelchair during recess."

Nine boys and eight adults showed up to help paint the map on Withrow Elementary's playground. While some of the adults used a stencil to draw the outline of the USA and its 50 states, the boys played basketball. Once the map had taken shape, Moore called the Scouts over to give them their marching orders.

"Can anyone tell me why you're here this morning?" Moore asked the group of boys, some of them still wearing that sleepy, just-got-out- of-bed look along with their shorts and Cub Scouts T-shirts.

One scout jokingly replied, "To eat doughnuts?"

Moore laughed and then grew serious again when he explained that they were there to help a little boy that will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"He's never going to be able to get out and run around like you guys," he said. "He can't play basketball, dodge ball or tetherball, and this map will allow him to be able to do an outdoor activity instead of just sitting and watching other people play."

Another Scout asked, "What's in it for us?"

In response, Moore said in addition to their community service time, they can take satisfaction in knowing that they did something good for someone else.

"If you give to other people, it comes back to you 100 times," Moore said. "When you go to sleep tonight, you can think about how lucky you are to have your health."

The pack leaders labeled each state with a number from 1 to 5 to let the Scouts know what color it should be. Equipped with paint, brushes and rollers, the Cub Scouts set to work painting the states red, yellow, orange, green or blue.

Vicnaire said her husband purchased the paint and brushes with funds provided by Withrow Elementary officials.

"When I took over, this group of Cub Scouts was already outstanding," Moore said. "They were achieving great success, but for them, it was still 'me, me, me.' I wanted to show them that there is more to their world than Xbox and Gameboy games."

Moore said that the leaders of Pack 332 have tried to let people know that they are the people to call if someone in the community needs a color guard or just someone to help with a cleanup effort. Citing examples, he said that his Cub Scouts served as a color guard at a recent Lake Elsinore Storm baseball game and volunteered to help the Wildomar Park Service. The Cubmaster said his pack's leadership is also looking into starting an adopt-a-senior program at Wildomar Community Center. Moore said they hope that their Scouts can keep in touch with some of the seniors there and let them know about what is going on in their lives, as well as visit them from time to time.

In response to another request from the community, the Cub Scouts in Pack 332 will be cleaning up graffiti at Ortega Falls some time in the near future, Moore said. The pack's leaders are thinking about combining that effort with their upcoming pack hike.

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