Baldwinsville’s Boy Scout Troop 80 recently embraced the holiday spirit.
The boys, ranging in age from 11 to 17, sent more than 40 care packages to troops overseas as well as soldiers injured in the line of duty and currently recovering in military hospitals in the United States.
Organized by the Troop’s Scoutmaster Brian Brundige and Lorie Schneider of the Kyle P. Schneider Foundation, the care package collection was conceived when troop member Nicholas Clark was completing his Eagle Scout project at Beaver Lake Nature Center.
“[Nicholas’] project involved helping to create a path and a cleared space to place a bench as a memorial to Kyle [Schneider], a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan in June 2011. Kyle’s parents helped with the project and they discussed the idea of partnering up for the food drive with Brian,” said Beth Healy, committee chair for the event.
While a majority of the care package items were donated by the scouts’ families and the Schneider family, Healy said the project could grow next year to include food drives and fundraisers in order to send more care packages.
“For some of the soldiers, this will be the only care package that they will receive over the holidays,” Healy said noting it was a good lesson for the troop. “The boys learned that there are ways to show our gratitude and appreciation to the troops for all of their efforts in Afghanistan, and what may seem like a small gesture on their part could mean the world to another person.”
