About 20 people on average eat at the Aspen Homeless Shelter day center each evening. Tonight, the room is also crammed with 9-year-olds, their parents and their siblings.
Aspen Homeless Shelter Executive Director Vince Savage asked the pack to imagine what it would be like if they didn’t have home or a place to put all of their belongings.
These questions and the direct interaction with people experiencing homelessness are what troop leader Greg Balko says helps the kids get a better, more realistic understanding of poverty in Aspen.
“I think the kids get it, especially when they can put a face to the homeless," said Balko.
Some of the people dining at the shelter were once cub scouts themselves. They said the appreciated the visit, and thought it was good for the children to see a real picture of hardship at such a young age.
