Action: Helping a child in Cub Scouts

Submitted by:  Liz Shelby

"The one thing I have chosen to share with you occurred last Saturday. A little background…I have recently become more involved with a Cub Scout pack since its Cubmaster passed away suddenly in her sleep. She was a single mom and 41 years old! At our first meeting since the funeral, our Scout Executive (paid professional from the scout office) passed out belt loops and pins to the cubs who went to summer camp. One cub began crying because he didn’t go and didn’t earn the awards. Why he didn’t go is another story. But on Saturday, there was a Cub Scout event at Camp Tom Wooten in Bastrop in which the Cubs could earn belt loops. He really wanted to go and his family had been approved for a financial needs scholarship. However, both of his parents have visual impairments and do not drive, and public transportation does not go to Bastrop. After trying to get someone who could drive them out and back from my church and other organizations, I decided to do it since this was the first Cub Scout camp experience for the mom and her 10 year-old son. They had to be there by 7:30 AM which meant picking them up at 6:30 AM. I dropped them off and returned to Austin. When I went back to get them, they were both tired, hot, and happy. I arrived just in time to help the Cub make a rocket which required visual skills that his mom could not help with. You should have seen his face when his rocket was launched!! They had a wonderful experience. On the way home, the mom asked if Boy Scouts serve boys who are blind or visually impaired, and I could proudly tell her that the Boy Scout program has been inclusive since its inception in 1910 – pretty progressive for its time! Now, this isn’t a story about a “child with a disability” but for me it was making things possible for a child whose parents’ disability almost prevented him from have the time of his life – a day he will be talking about for a long time (and so will Mom for that matter!)."