Local Cub Scouts set Illinois all-time sales record
Cub Scout Pack 189, based out of Fremont School District 79 in Mundelein, includes 48 children in grades K-5 that come from all over Lake County.
In 2023, Pack 189 raised $92,310 dollars in popcorn sales. This earned them first place in the entire state of Illinois and 20th place nationally, beating out over 100,000 other packs and troops from kindergarten through high school. The average scout organization sells around $15,000 per year.
Pack 189 raised enough money last year to give all of its members a free year of scouting activities and camping trips, while also serving their community by volunteering at local community events and donating popcorn to the troops overseas.
As a result of their fundraising, the scouts had overnight camping trips at places like The Racine Zoo; the USS Cobia in Manitowoc, Wisconsin (a famous WWII submarine that many say turned the tide of the war in the Pacific); Illinois State Beach; and the Schaumburg Boomers game, among others.
The Scouts put in a tremendous amount of work to sell that much popcorn, and they achieved this honor by getting out into the community in a number of different ways.
They set up tables and sold popcorn at many local businesses in the area, including Wildberry, Lowe’s, REI, Chick-Fil-A, Buttermilk Cafe, Walgreens, Illinois State football games, Lake County Jeep Invasion, and the Lake County Farm & Heritage Festival at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
They would also load up their wagons and sell popcorn to their neighbors, and even created homemade videos to sell popcorn to friends and family members online. The Scouts have learned amazing communication skills and they have become excellent salespeople.
The organization’s mission is for Scouts to have fun while also learning valuable life skills along the way. During the fundraising season, the focus is to teach Scouts how to interact with community members, how to convey a simple sales message, how to set goals for themselves, responsible behavior and personal growth, while encouraging peer to peer mentorship. The Scouts are learning skills that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives, including the value of hard work, good communication, business acumen, and the power of teamwork.
Pack 189 has started fundraising again this fall, and are looking forward to crushing their goals, increasing confidence, creating a positive mindset and making many wonderful memories along their journey.
This year they are also looking to increase the number of ways that they can give more to their community from the fundraising program. The pack set a fundraising goal of $70,000 for 2024, and since they have exceeded it, they plan to use the additional funds to purchase and donate food to Fremont’s local food pantry, and donate toys to underprivileged children during the holiday season. As of Oct. 8, they had sold $72,575 in popcorn, and they are on pace to sell over $100,000 when our sales season ends on Nov. 3. They are again Number 1 in Illinois, and 16th in National sales. They also hold the all-time sales record for Illinois per the Trail’s End Popcorn sales team.
Pack 189 has received accolades from Trail’s End (popcorn manufacturer/distributor, and national sales team responsible for all the sales promotions and the app they use to record sales) and, the Northeast Illinois Council (the local Boy Scout council over all the packs and troops in northern Illinois territory), and had an article written in Shaw Local newspaper featuring one of the scouts who sold at the Lake County Farm Heritage Festival.