By Jeff Odom
From adopting miles of SR 54 to collecting 1,900 pounds of food for Metropolitan Ministries, Cub Scout Pack 72 has been volunteering hundreds of hours to give back to their community.
And very well known people are taking notice.
Pack 72, which has scouts ages 6 to 10, will receive personalized letters and medals from President Barack Obama and Florida Gov. Rick Scott for their volunteer work around their Zephyrhills community.
State Sen. Rhonda Storms, along with Zephyrhills Mayor Steve Van Gorden, will also be providing a ceremony at an upcoming city hall meeting, which will include a city proclamation.
Third-year Cubmaster Jerry Slagle said it’s amazing to see what his pack has recently achieved. When he took over the lead role, there were only eight kids in the pack. Now, there are 47.
“The presidential award is definitely a big deal to the kids,” Slagle said. “Throughout the years, our pack has had three strong values — family, community and faith. I believe big on giving back to the community, which is what our service projects come into.”
Outside of collections, the scouts have worked to clean up litter around Shepards and Zephyr parks while earning numerous badges and achievements. The various work helped them earn the Presidential Gold Volunteer Award.
“We put a request in to let them know what we’ve done, and the president got a hold of one of the secretaries to get a hand-signed letter for each boy,” Slagle said. “It’s all about how much you give back to your community, and from what I’m understanding we’re the only pack in the state of Florida that’s receiving this award.”
The award will not be the end of the scouts’ service. Slagle said the pack plans on partnering with Chester Taylor Elementary on the new Adopt a School program. There, the scouts will help with the landscaping and cleanup.
“I think it’s awesome to see kids succeed,” Slagle said. “We believe in what we call making more in our community, where we try to raise the boys to become better leaders. … We let them know they are important, and we want them to be good people when they get older.”
