In giving his prize to a boy in need, Scouter shows he’s a true winner

Mountain Hardwear LaminaThe generosity of Scout leaders never ceases to amaze me.

You selfless individuals already give up your precious free time to better the lives of the Scouts in your pack, troop, or crew.

But it rarely stops there. The latest example: Scoutmaster Keith Welch of the Trapper Trails Council in Utah, winner of the Mountain Hardwear Lamina sleeping bag I gave away earlier this month.

Nobody would blame Keith for keeping the bag for himself. But he didn’t.

I’ll let him tell you what he did with the prize instead:

Bryan,

Last Friday afternoon, I had just loaded the last bag into my vehicle, when the package arrived. I was 100 percent ready to spend the weekend with my Troop camping in snow caves at a nearby campground. The package was from you and it was the Mountain Hardwear Lamina minus-30 sleeping bag which I had won. WOW what a surprise and perfect timing too. I loaded it on top of the gear and we left.

We arrived and each pair of boys began to dig out their perfect snow bed. I and another adult leader observed one young man whose gear was looking a little worn and perhaps needing to be replaced. Later that evening we awarded the sleeping bag to this young man for his demostrating the “True Scouting Spirit.”

Yesterday at church, his mother came up with tears in her eyes, thanking us for this gift and the experience he had shared with her.

Bryan, I wished you could have been there. It was your gift to them and I was happy to have been able to be apart of it. Thank you for your kindness in sharing with us.

Sincerely,
Keith Welch

What a story! It doesn’t get much better than that, does it?


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.