‘The kids don’t deserve that’: Scout troop’s trailer filled with camping gear worth thousands stolen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - More than $10,000 has been raised for a Scouting America troop in Alaska after someone stole their trailer filled with necessary camping gear.

Scouting America - formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America - Troop 220 is the only troop serving families across the East Side of Anchorage. There are 32 members.

On Jan. 15, someone stole the troop’s trailer, which was filled with camping gear, including new tents, sleeping bags, patrol boxes and cooking gear. The troop relies on the gear for campouts, training and outdoor adventures.

Scoutmaster Sam Giacalone says the trailer with everything in it was worth around $8,000 to $10,000.

“It’s hard to describe, but it kind of puts a pit in your stomach, sinks your heart a bit that all that hard work and stuff that you know that is there to help the kids just up and disappears,” Giacalone said.

Giacalone says the trailer, which was locked up at the doors and tongue, was taken overnight, most likely by towing.

“It was buried and had locks on the tongue and on all the doors,” he said. “They had to have yanked it out of the snow. So, I mean, they had to have had a big rig to do that.”

He says telling the troop was difficult, but the kids were built for this kind of adversity. They’re pushing forward in hopes the gear will be found or replaced soon.

“They’re active and resilient,” Giacalone said. “We figure out a way to make it work.”

Parents also stepped up, lending their own gear to keep the program going.

The troop created a GoFundMe page to help recoup the cost of what was taken. It had raised more than $13,000 of its $10,000 goal, as of early Wednesday.

“Your support helps ensure that one criminal act doesn’t take away the opportunities these young people have worked so hard to earn,” the page read.

A police report was filed, but the stolen trailer has not been located.