Fort Drum Cub Scouts send toys, goodies worldwide

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- For most Americans, the holiday season is synonymous with food, family and fun. However, millions of people, including children, do not share these sentiments because their next meal is not guaranteed, their families have been destroyed by tragedies, and poverty has robbed them of any real joy.

Combating this dilemma is a tall order, but the Cub Scouts of Pack 26, Fort Drum Chapter of the Longhouse Council, were up to the task.

Members of Pack 26 donated more than 10 shoe boxes packed full of toys and other goodies to the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child collection point at New Life Christian Church, Watertown, Nov. 23, to bring joy to less fortunate children around the globe.

"This is going to children in under-developed countries so that they can have a Christmas present," said Staff Sgt. Charlie Breeden, Pack 26 cubmaster, medic and platoon sergeant assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. "This will be the first gift that some of these kids ever received in their whole life."

This was the second consecutive year that Pack 26 participated in Operation Christmas Child. Pack leaders decided that this year's approach would be a consolidated effort from each den.

"Each den asked the boys to bring in an unwrapped toy or item to put into the shoe box," said Carrie Tate-Meyer, co-leader for Den 1. "Each den was able to donate at least one shoe box."

The lobby of the church was festively decorated for the Christmas holiday. It was adorned with several poster-sized photos of smiling children, which was fitting for the occasion. But these pictures were not stock photographs.

"Each one of the kids in the pictures that was in there, the volunteers had taken those pictures. Those were kids that were helped by the shoe boxes," Breeden said.

Through this good deed, the 58 boys and the leaders from the 10 dens in Pack 26 have met the requirements for a prestigious Scouting award -- the Messengers of Peace patch.

According to the Boy Scouts of America website, the Messengers of Peace initiative includes three dimensions: personal, community and relationships between humankind and its environment.

"Being able to give to other little boys and girls something that's exciting, that they can open up and that they can use I think helps generate that spirit of giving," said Tate-Meyer. "Especially during the holiday season, it kind of gets the boys excited about the spirit of the holiday and understand the importance of giving to those that are in need."

Breeden has two sons who participate in Scouts, so he is pleased with the positive implications opportunities like this that Scouting provides for the boys and their parents.

"With all these boys, it's a sense of pride -- a sense of pride that they're giving back to world to their community," Breeden said. "It brings out the best in both the adults and the kids."

The boys excelled beyond the standard of one box per den this year, so Tate-Meyer has aspirations that the contributions will increase significantly.

"My hope is that our pack continues to do that," she said. "And that it grows so that each boy would eventually donate a shoe box so that we are providing a box per boy and giving more to the community."

Breeden was extremely appreciative for what his boys have done, considering the fact that the life of an Army child is not the easiest either. It is especially heart-warming to see them excited to help other kids when they, too, have difficult times when their moms or dads are deployed.

"These little guys have sacrificed a lot," he said.

In the past two decades, donations from Operation Christmas Child have touched the lives of millions of children worldwide.

"This is just a really good program," Breeden said. In the last 25 years, the program has helped 155 million children.