SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An outpouring of support for the Yellowknife 1st Scout Troop, which had roughly $700 worth of empty pop cans stolen earlier this month.

Terry Banks was so appalled when he heard pop cans collected for refunds by scouts had been stolen he wrote a cheque for $700. - NNSL file photo

"For me personally, at least a dozen people have stopped me on the sidewalk and talked to me about it," said Mike Kalnay, commissioner for the NWT Scouts. "And a number of our scout leaders have also reported the same, that people are asking what they can do to help."

Earlier this month three industrial sized bags full of empty cans, donated by BHP Billiton, were stolen from Scouts House, located at the Folk on the Rocks site, before they were able to be recycled and exchanged for cash that would have paid for firewood needed for scout camps.

When Terry Banks, second vice-president of Yellowknife's Royal Canadian Legion, heard about the situation he wrote a personal cheque worth $700 to cover the cost of the stolen empties.

"I was so upset that something like this could happen to the scouts," said Banks. "I was in the scouts at one time and I was thinking about how depressing this must be for the scouts who were counting on the money."

Banks was motivated to make the donation because he didn't want the crime to cast a shadow over the scouts for the kids involved.

"I just didn't want these criminals to put a dampener on scouting," he said. "We cannot let these people get ahead of us and take things away from the young people, who are so important."

In addition to Banks' generosity, BHP Billiton gave the scouts $1,000.

"I was pretty disappointed to read about that and felt quite badly for them," said Deana Twissell, superintendent of corporate and community affairs at BHP Billiton.

"I thought that it would be a good gesture to offer up what they lost in revenue so it could take some pressure off them and they could continue with their programs and not have to focus their time on fundraising," she said.

Kalnay said anyone wishing to donate their recycled bottle funds to the scouts can do so at the Bottle Shop-Recycling Depot, which is ready to put the money on the scout's books.

He said the incident has helped attract people to scout leadership roles.

"I had a couple of people take me aside and say they didn't even know scouts were going on here – what can I do to help out?" he said. "You can be a leader, we're always looking for leaders."

He said the kids are glad to know there are thoughtful and generous people in the community.

"They're upset that someone would steal from them but they're thrilled to know that there are still good people who can help them out," he said.

Next up for the scouts will be their annual Christmas tree sale which will kick off in the next few days.

"If that goes well, we'll be in good shape on the coming year," he said.