Cub Scout Pack 73 trailer stolen
Published 6:15 pm Thursday, July 4, 2019
A trailer filled with camping equipment for more than 20 Cub Scouts went missing recently, and Pack 73’s leaders seek to raise money to replace it and its contents.
Based out of Magnolia United Methodist Church off of Wilroy Road, Pack 73 used the gear that was inside to take camping trips. The missing trailer stored such things as stoves, tents and other gear that they used to take about four camping trips per year, according to Pack 73 committee chair Kimberlee DeFreeuw.
“We were just trying to figure out what was going on, and it was interesting that it just went missing overnight,” DeFreeuw said.
The 10-foot-by-10-foot white trailer, which had no markings on it, was gone from its normal spot in the rear parking lot of the church on the morning of June 15, the day before the start of Pack 73’s week-long day camp at Nike Park in Isle of Wight County, which meant it needed to get help from other Cub Scout groups, DeFreeuw said.
“We have no way of hauling, even if we got the supplies again,” DeFreeuw said. “We have no way of hauling it to the campsites.”
The group filed a police report, which lists it as a grand larceny that took place sometime between 5 p.m. June 14 and 10:48 a.m. the next day. According to city spokeswoman Diana Klink, there were no witnesses to the theft, and the investigation remains ongoing.
She said the kids in the group, which range from first-graders through about sixth grade, are
largely unaware of what happened to the trailer.
“As of right now, it’s just been the leaders that have been talking,” DeFreeuw said. “We’re supposed to have a meeting in two weeks to discuss it with the parents, (but) all the parents pretty much know from Facebook. The kids are still little. They’re just like, ‘We still get to go camping, though, right?’ But the parents are doing what they can to figure out what we can do donation-wise.”
Pack 73 is looking at having to raise between $5,000 to $6,000 to replace the trailer and its contents to be able to take the kids on camping trips once again, DeFreeuw said. It has already received an offer from Boy Scout Troop 73 to donate extra camping items to Pack 73.
It has established a GoFundMe page at https://bit.ly/3273g20 to raise money to replace everything and posted a photo with it that included the now-missing trailer.