No More Mouldy, Broken Tents for Barrie Beaver & Cub Scouts

DATE: July 04, 2012

Barrie, ON—Congratulations to the Barrie Beaver and Cub Scouts, who recently received $2,500 as part of CLAC's Building Communities Together program.
 
Melanie McRae, a member of Health Care and Service Workers Union, Local 304, affiliated with CLAC, nominated the Beavers for consideration. She is employed as a cook by Whispering Pines Retirement Residence in Barrie.

Melanie, known as “Chip” by the more than thirty Beavers that she leads, and her fellow leaders Wendy Fizzard and Darrel Hallahan, have had to get very creative with funding their events. They receive about $100 per year to plan and carry out activities for the group. To raise more money, the Beavers, ages five to eight years old, and Cubs have held bottle drives and apple days, sold popcorn, and will soon start collecting Canadian Tire money.

CLAC’s $2,500 donation will kick-start the club’s activities when they meet next season. It will go to replacing broken, mouldy tents that are over twenty years old.

Melanie was a Girl Guide as a child, so when her sons were old enough, they joined Scouts. She wanted to get them away from TV and computers.

With volunteers in short supply, Melanie stepped up to the plate to volunteer with the Beavers, which is now co-ed. The group meets at Cunndles Heights in Barrie once a week and enjoys many activities. Melanie and the Beavers and Cubs could not have been more pleased with the donation.