FINDING SOLUTIONS: Scout troop created to keep kids from violence
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’ve been seeing a concerning upward trend of youth violence in our community.
Shooting on school campuses, football games shut down for fear of violence, drive-bys, and shootings involving kids as young as 13 in some cases.
It’s easy to point out the problem. It’s much harder to do the work it takes to solve it.
One woman is tired of the headlines, and she’s working to find solutions that start early.
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for some kids from Harrisburg. They just ed a Cub Scout troop- something that wasn’t an option in their neighborhood before now.
“It was our thought that all of the kids we’re seeing on the news involved in gun violence probably never had the opportunity to learn the pro-social values you learn in scouting,” said Faye Hargrove, Cubmaster for Pack 1914.
MORE FROM NEWS 12:
- Center helps men through recovery process
- Foster kids get own bags for belongings
- Duck Dash to raise funds for safe cribs
- Local activists clean up Aiken streets
- Marshal’s Office offers alternative to cash fines
- Clinic combines specialties to lower maternal mortality rates
So, with a partnership through the Rotary Club and St. Lukes United Methodist, this former Rotary club president started one, Pack 1914, made up of ten elementary school kids from Harrisburg.
“I already have some friends I met,” said a cub scout.
A couple of weekends ago, they went on their first camping trip up at Camp Knox- a whole new world for a lot of these city kids.
“They shot bow and arrows, they went fishing, they made slime, they saw 650 other elementary school kids singing and having a great time,” said Hargrove.
And now, they’re getting a crash course in sales.
Korbin Agnew said: “Today we are trying to sell popcorn to get money for kids to go to camp,”
They’re picking up funding from the community with a side of wisdom from some popcorn buyers.
“You are bright, you’re intelligent, you’re creative, you’re innovative, and you can do anything that you put your mind to. You hear that? that,” said one gentleman. “Do you believe it? Good. Do you believe it? Good. Do you believe it?”
Hargrove said: “They are really good kids. They just need someone like us to help them learn the right way to be in a peaceful world.”
And sometimes, that takes rolling up your sleeves, or maybe putting on a uniform with a patch and doing the hard work of caring.
“My hope is that years down the road when you’re reporting the news, first of all, that you’re not reporting the level of gun violence we’re seeing in our community, but second, if you are, none of these kids are going to be involved, because they are learning the values of respect for themselves and for the community and for one another and they’re learning different ways of handling their aggression,” said Hargrove.
If you’re interested in helping this Cub Scout troop thrive or starting one of your own in an area that could use it, Hargrove at [email protected].
Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
