Colfax Cub Scout Pack 42 raises almost $600 for Ronald McDonald House® Charities
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — If you purchased baked goods or a brat from Colfax Cub Scouts Pack 42 at Kyle’s Market in May, guess what?
You helped the Colfax Cub Scouts raise $566.90 to send to the Ronald McDonald House® Charities.
“Our pack chose this charity at the suggestion of the Scott and Laura Elmer family to ‘pay it forward’ and help more families in need of the Ronald McDonald House® Charities,” said Anne Severt Ingram, the Den Master for Pack 42.
Ronald McDonald House® Charities is a non-profit organization that helps families to gain access to medical treatment for their children by providing somewhere to stay at little or no cost to the family.
The Elmer family asked if Pack 42 could do something to raise money for the charity because “the Madison Ronald McDonald House® helped the family out very much,” Ingram said.
Brady Elmer, Scott and Laura’s son, is in Webelos. He will be entering sixth grade this fall. The Elmers also have a daughter, Ava, she noted.
The Colfax Cub Scout Pack 42 has 13 active Cub Scouts ranging in ages from first grade to sixth grade.
The baked goods offered at the sale May 6 at Kyle’s Market were a joint effort from both parents and Cub Scouts, Ingram said.
“We are all excited and surprised about making that much. In all the bake sales I have done, this is the most, and for a wonderful cause,” she said.
“The Pack is discussing doing more. Saving the pop tabs is a huge fundraiser, and the can we had at the bake sale needs to be filled. We would like to start this next school year with a campaign of collecting the pop tabs,” Ingram said.
The Ronald McDonald House® Charities of Madison facility started out with a fund-raising campaign that raised $2 million. The facility was able to open in May of 1993 without any debt, according to the Madison Ronald McDonald House® website.
The first Ronald McDonald House® opened in Philadelphia in 1974.
Scott Elmer said their first experience with Ronald McDonald House® was when their son was diagnosed with a rare disease, and they had taken him to Madison for treatment.
“The first trip was supposed to be a meet and greet with the doctors, but he had a collapsed lung, and we ended up staying there for four weeks,” Scott Elmer said.
The Elmer family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House® of Madison many times after that, and the facility helped the family so much, “we feel strongly about giving back,” he said.
Over the years, through word of month, the Elmer family has received monetary donations for Ronald McDonald House® as well as food and supplies
“Our son passed away three years ago, and on his birthday in mid-March, we go back (to Madison) and deliver (what has been collected),” Elmer said.
The Elmer family is planning a fundraiser at Viking Bowl in September, too, that will include a bowling tournament along with other activities.
The complete details have not yet been worked out, “but we want it to be a fun get-together for people to have a good time and also to see if we can raise some money for Ronald McDonald House®,” Elmer said.
