Rocker and Country Star Kid Rock helps out a group of Scouts. He gets the headline, but is not the only one to help.
Rock, a singer with a sometimes raunchy reputation, was among many readers who donated cash or gear to an Oviedo Boy Scout troop that last week had been robbed of its trailer and camping equipment.
Robert “Kid Rock” Ritchie, 37, learned of Troop 631’s plight from a column Saturday in the Orlando Sentinel. He was in Orlando and Tampa during the weekend for concerts.
Troop leaders discovered last week that someone had taken a $5,600 trailer parked behind Tuskawilla Presbyterian Church. The troop had bought the trailer in March after seven years of fundraising.
He is not the only one though.
Shoppes of Oviedo and Real Property Specialists donated $4,000 to replace the stolen gear.
Others chipped in with smaller donations and offers to lend or donate used tents and trailers to help the cause, said Tom Daly, the church’s liaison to the troop.
“Nothing short of miraculous,” Daly, 53, said of the response. “People’s hearts were in the right place. The boys won’t be denied their trip.”
Nor do the Scouts want a handout for themselves.
Still, Scouts aren’t keen on handouts. Already the troop is hatching community-service projects to rake leaves and spread mulch as a way to repay strangers’ kindness.
“A Scout earns his way,” said Bill Stott, 43, Troop 631 Scoutmaster. “The community is giving to us, so we want to give back to the community.”
The outpouring was so strong that donations likely will exceed the troop’s need, so the Scouts intend to share the wealth.
“Our just deserts are what we’ll replace, and then we’ll make a donation to a worthy cause,” Stott said.
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