news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Just 24 hours after learning that part of her son’s Eagle Scout project had been stolen, Laura Mincher already has enough donations to fix the damage.

“People have been stopping and saying, 'I’m so sorry about that. What can we do?’” Mincher said. “It just shows that people care and that people really want to help out.”

A cedar swing — which will cost about $400 to replace — was sawed apart and stolen from a park at Rankin School Place senior apartment community late Sunday.

Mincher’s son Thomas, who is out of town on a Boy Scout trip and hasn’t heard about the theft yet, built the park — including a swing, picnic table and garden — last summer.

The 16-year-old paid for the project with cash saved from mowing lawns. Grandparents and other members of Troop 214 chipped in, too.

Mincher said donations for the new swing are still coming in. Anyone who still wants to chip-in should consider making a donation to the local Boy Scout office to fund camp scholarships, she said.

If more kids took part in Scouts, Mincher said, petty crime would be less common.

“Once somebody does something for a community and helps out, they’re less likely to destroy it,” she said.

John Meeks, executive director for the Boy Scouts’ Old North State Council, said 103 underprivileged boys received partial camp scholarships worth $12,000 this summer. The group is worried about having enough funds for next summer, he said, with the projected need falling closer to $16,000.

Camps are often a boy’s first Scouting experience, he said. “A week of camp is, in many ways, a transforming experience for a Scout, in a very positive way,” Meeks said.

Contact Tricia L. Nadolny at 373-7028 or tricia.nadolny@news-record.com