Cub Scouts honor MLK by helping the poor at Morristown church

Cub Scout Pack 125 assembles toiletry bags for underprivileged guests at Bethel AME Church on MLK Day 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Cub Scout Pack 125 assembles toiletry bags for underprivileged guests at Bethel AME Church on MLK Day 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
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By Berit A.Ollestad

A Morristown Cub Scout pack spent part of Martin Luther King Day packing toiletry bags for the underprivileged, at Bethel A.M.E. Church.

Cub Scout Pack 125 assembles toiletry bags for underprivileged guests at Bethel AME Church on MLK Day 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad
Cub Scout Pack 125 assembles toiletry bags for underprivileged guests at Bethel AME Church on MLK Day 2015. Photo by Berit Ollestad

The exercise was meant to teach them about community service, said Steve Gardberg, leader of Cub Scouts Pack 125.

“I want the boys to have a clear understanding of why it is they had today off from school,” Gardberg said.

After packing the bags and inscribing them with messages of encouragement, the Scouts took them to the church basement, where Morris County Sheriff Ed Rochford and his chief of staff, Susan Hunter were among volunteers serving dinner to about 50 homeless- and low income guests of the church’s Table of Hope program.

Photos by Berit Ollestad. Please click icon below for captions.

Later, the boys were escorted upstairs to discuss Martin Luther King’s legacy with Bethel Pastor Sidney Williams Jr.

“He wasn’t just a by-stander, he was a protester, he went to jail to fight for equality” said one Scout.

“What made Dr. King so special is when he was bullied, he didn’t bully back,” Williams responded. “Dr. King was peaceful and used his words, not his fists.”

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