St. Cassian Cub Scouts and The Great Sandwich Project

In early November of 2013, a group of 5th grade Webelo Scouts from St. Cassian Parish Pack 8 in Montclair, N.J., began discussing an idea to make sandwiches for the homeless.  That idea took on a life of its own.  The Pack 8 cubs and their families mobilized and so began "The Great Sandwich Project". 

They planned to make 100 sandwiches.  The 100 sandwiches turned into 100 brown bag meals.  St. John's Soup Kitchen in Newark was willing to work with the Pack.  Tiger Scout Assistant Den Leader and Mom, Nicole Manners, organized the mobilization.  The boys and their families all played a role. 

For instance, St Cassian 5th graders Nick Garcia, Patrick Henegan, Sean Herold, Colton Lehrer, and Jackson Pflueger, collected donations of snacks from their classmates. Montclair Edgemont student Soren Tollis and his family eagerly donated all the necessary cheese, asking if they should get "swiss or provolone".  The first grade Tiger Scouts contributed juice boxes. The third and fourth grade Wolf and Bear cubs donated bread as well as holiday candy. The Webelos provided more bread, all the snacks and turkey. 

With the help of Webelo leaders Jane Bass and Lisa Lehrer,  local businesses joined in the project.  Hot Bagels Abroad in Bloomfield gave the scouts top of the line Boars Head turkey at cost.  The law firm Davis, Saperstein and Salomon of Teaneck donated fresh fruit for each brown bag.

Last night, the Cubs, which includes boys ages six to 11 from various towns, and their parents donned food-handling gloves and set out to work packing the meals at the St. Cassian School gymnasium in Montclair.  The scene was a mini factory, all decked out for the holidays.  On an assembly line, the boys made turkey and cheese sandwiches. They bagged them with juice, fresh fruit, snacks such as Little Debbie’s Christmas brownies, granola bars, and the irresistible Hershey’s kisses.  The boys all wanted to eat the food - especially the chocolate. However, they refrained, with one scout Nate Bass noting "we can wait to eat, this is really for those who need it more than us."  The scouts finished the bags off with notes sending love and Holiday wishes.  After all the hard work boys then shared in their annual cookie swap.

The cubs hard work will add to the 700 hot meals served every day at Saint John’s Soup Kitchen. Cub father, Brian Lehrer, delivered the meals this morning.  The boys exceeded their 100-meal goal and made over 150 meals.

The project was in part inspired by the group’s quest for a national scouting award. The cub scouts are now in the process of submitting their project to the Boys Scouts of America in hopes of earning their Messenger of Peace badge — part of the Scouts’ global initiative to inspire young men and women to work toward peace. 

The scouts really understood their task.  Glenridge second grader C.J. Woznick expressed "we are here to make sandwiches for those that are hungry." St Cassian student Sam Grube said "this was the best pack meeting ever!"  Webelo Colton Lehrer said "next year we need to set a higher goal and make at least double."