Christmas should be a joyful time for children. Unfortunately, some kids spend their holiday time in the hospital. Local Cub Scout Troop 6 is trying to make this time a bit better.

Again, this year, the local scouts have teamed up with The Greyson Project. This nonprofit organization was formed by a family that had a small child who spent the holiday in the hospital.

Courtesy photo – Greyson Project volunteers drop off Christmas decorations at Children’s Hopsital Colorado in December 2021.

The project’s website states its goal is “to brighten up the room of a child who won’t be going home for the holidays by providing a bag full of holiday decorations for their hospital room.” The Berthoud scouts assist by collecting money and decorative items to be distributed at hospitals.

According to Clinton Vining, Cub Scout Pack 6 Scoutmaster, Pack 6 has coordinated donations to the Greyson Project for several years now. Vining said, “We usually pass the hat at our November pack meeting and then give the boys time to ask grandparents and friends over Thanksgiving to collect additional donations.”

Early in December, decorations are purchased. At the December 8^th pack meeting, Vining says the boys will set up an assembly line filling the bags with battery-operated lights, small fake Christmas trees, window clings and other decorations approved by Greyson Project. Go to www.thegreysonproject.org to see what is on the approved list and what is not allowed in the hospital.

The website lists two locations where items may be dropped off. They are RE/MAX Town & Country, 340 Mountain Avenue and TPC Colorado, 2375 TPC Parkway.

Kelly Seaton, a mother of one of the scouts, says she has been involved in the project for a couple of years. Seaton said, “Last year we filled over 60 bags to deliver to local Colorado hospitals. That was between the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts Pack 6 themselves. It was an amazing feat! They raised over $1000 to fill those bags.”

To make a donation to the local scouts Greyson Project, citizens may write a check made out to the Berthoud Pack 6 Cub Scouts. Send the check to Berthoud Pack 6, c/o Clinton Vining, 1000 Jefferson Drive, Berthoud, 80513 by December 1^st.

The Greyson Project is nationwide. Last year was a record-breaking year. Young hospital patients in 31 hospitals in 12 states received a total of 2,189 bags.

Vining summed up the project by saying, “It’s our way of giving back to the community and hopefully helping make another child’s day a little brighter.