Cub Scout Elian Rubin, a member of Princeton Pack 43 since first grade, sold $4,676.80 worth of popcorn, making him the top-selling Cub Scout in Central and Southern New Jersey and the second highest in the state.
With his leadership, the boys in Pack 43 raised enough money to upgrade their Pinewood Derby equipment, benefiting all the boys in the pack for years to come.
Council Popcorn Director Brian Dungan said the average scout sells between $150 and $200 worth of popcorn in the sale.
”Elian sold more by himself than many of our packs and troops did as groups. His efforts show other scouts that they can achieve big goals if they set their minds to it.”
A fifth-grader at Community Park School, Elian started selling popcorn for scouting in 2010 during the pack’s first ever popcorn sale. “I started out really wanting to earn a college scholarship, which meant I needed more than $2,500 in sales.”
That first year he sold more than $3,300. His goal for this year was to beat last year’s sales. But he reached that goal before the sale was over, so he made a new goal: to fill up three full sheets of orders. And he reached that goal, too.
Working to achieve goals is one of Elian’s favorite parts of being a scout, but as he says, “It’s not easy. I spent a lot of time walking from house to house in our neighborhood and in my friends’ neighborhoods. I also talked to lots of people walking by at Conte’s, Palmer Square and Wawa. Lora Arendt at Palmer Square was very nice to let us sell there many times and Ciro Baldino at Conte’s even let us set up our table inside the door when it was a cold night! I found that lots of people were interested in supporting scouting. And while some people say no, if you keep asking, many will say yes. The popcorn is yummy, so after they try it, people want to buy more. I have lots of repeat customers.”
While the prizes that the popcorn company offers a college scholarship account, gift cards, a patch and a special shooting toy are “cool, the real reason we’re doing this is to support scouting,” he said. “Can you imagine if we didn’t have camp-outs and Pinewood Derby? That wouldn’t be fun!”
Elian has used some of his gift card money to purchase Lego sets for HomeFront and make a donation to SAVE.
Elian will be crossing over to Boy Scout Troop 43 this March and plans to stay with scouting and become an Eagle Scout. He also plans to continue his popcorn fundraising efforts.
”I want to thank my Mom because without her I never would have been able to sell even $100, but I really want to thank all my customers. And if you didn’t buy popcorn last year, you can buy some this year in person or online. We always have new choices each year. You can go to my website, www.cubscoutpopcornsale.com, to buy popcorn online this spring or join my mailing list for next fall’s sale.”

