Clearwater Boy Scout is prolific popcorn salesperson

Eleven-year-old Boy Scout Grayson van den Berg may go into sales when he grows up.

“I’m thinking about it,’’ he says. “I mean, I’m very good at it. I could do that.’’
Indeed he could. Grayson, individually, has for the last three years broken the Florida record for sales of popcorn during the annual Boy Scouts of America fundraiser.

This year, Grayson became a Boy Scout, but joined other Boy Scouts in continuing to raise money for his Clearwater Cub Scout Pack 313 and broke the national record for sales, so far bringing in more than $291,000. Part of the money raised will go to his Boy Scout troop. The popcorn campaign, which lasts about three months, ends soon.

Grayson’s mother, Carly van den Berg, says the Cub Scout pack took on the popcorn fundraiser to raise money for Boy Scout activities and materials for earning badges. The pack visited the James Museum in St. Petersburg, for example, to earn a badge in Native American studies. The scouts also visited SeaWorld for a marine biology badge and stayed for a sleepover at the shark tank.

They didn’t know what to expect the first year, Carly van den Berg says; they just went out maybe once on the weekend. But Grayson was the number one salesman that year, and he wanted to do it again the next year.

“So I had to follow his lead and we went out probably once or twice a weekend, but then we would also go every Wednesday and Friday after school,’’ she says.

“Year two was intense,” she adds. “We really did a lot because he had his heart set on making that goal. He also sold me on that, so I did it.’’

If customers weren’t contributing to the Boy Scouts, the popcorn would be a hard sell, with prices ranging from $15 to $25 a box. One-third of the proceeds goes to the popcorn manufacturer, Carly van den Berg says. Another third goes to the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, which serves more than 15,000 young people in a nine-county area and maintains a number of camps. The majority of the last third goes to Grayson’s former Cub Scout pack and a portion goes to his Boy Scout troop.

Grayson, who wants to become an Eagle Scout, the highest scout rank, says he loves being part of the organization.

“I get to go on all these adventures with the scouts,’’ he says. “And I can learn new skills and I just have a fun time.’’

Grayson says he was a bit shy at first when he approached potential customers but got more confident as time went on. His key to sales success?

“Well, you always be very kind in how you ask them,’’ he says. “You don’t push them too hard, otherwise that makes them not want to get it. Always, really good manners.’’

For more information, go to Greater Tampa Bay Council