Other Articles in this Category
Most Viewed Stories
Most Commented Stories
Save & Share this Article
Raisin' money to replace gear
Cub Scouts trailer and contents, valued at $6,700, stolen Aug. 7; fundraiser held today to help replace items
The leaders of Boy Scout Troop 392 and Cub Scout Pack 392 have raised about half the money needed to replace a trailer filled with the Cub Scouts' equipment that was stolen this past summer.
The trailer and its contents, which included tents, lanterns, gas grills, propane tanks and cooking equipment, was taken in the early morning hours of Aug. 7.
"Everything you would need to go camping was in that trailer," Cubmaster David V. Jones said Sunday.
The trailer and camping gear were valued at $6,741; the Scouts received just over $2,200 from their insurance company, and about $1,000 more in donations from church members.
The troop is holding its second annual fish stew and chicken pastry dinner fundraiser today, and leaders plan to divert some of the proceeds toward replacing the stolen items.
Jones, along with troop committee Chairman Jeff Long, said the trailer was parked in the lot of Kinston's Westminster United Methodist Church next to a similar trailer holding the Boy Scouts' gear. The Boy Scout trailer was marked with their name and logo while the Cub Scout trailer had no markings.
The troop and the pack hold their meetings and events at the church.
Long said a church security camera had captured footage of a pickup truck backing up to the trailer around 4 a.m. The thieves then hooked it to their truck and drove off.
The crime was reported to the Kinston police, and an investigator came to the scene, dusted for prints and took photos. Police did not recover any "latent evidence," according to the investigator's report.
Kinston Department of Public Safety Maj. Greg Thompson said Monday that they are still looking for the white full-sized pickup seen in the camera footage.
He said criminals do not normally seek out camping gear, but thefts of that type of trailer are on the rise around the region.
Long said the pack, which currently has 56 boys, goes camping twice a year, but the scouts could not take their annual fall camping trip this time because of the theft.
"They were disappointed they couldn't go camping," he said.
If you go:
What: Boy Scout Troop 392's second annual fish stew and chicken pastry dinner fundraiser
When: 5 p.m. today
Where: Westminster United Methodist Church, 1001 Westminster Lane, Kinston
Call: (252) 522-3334, Ext. 2
