comment: >
  
  Fun fact: the national BSA organization (the one actually filing for bankruptcy) doesn't actually see a penny of popcorn sales outside of a relatively very small amount for brand rights. You buy scout popcorn, that money stays local.
context: I grew up in foster care and we got a boat load of gifts from some donations. Of all the shit that happened in foster care, those presents made me feel a hell of a lot better. >
  
  
  Unfortunately they are out of wishes to fulfill right now.
  
  Ehh, I'd say fortunately they're out of wishes to fulfill, since if they're out that means that all the kids that charity helps got their wishes this Xmas! Thx for posting the link though. >
  
  A $11000 popcorn take-home for the scout is 5% of the total sales the scout made. That's $220,000 in $20 popcorn tin sales, or about 11,000 individual tins sold. That's not just "more than expected" that's like half a state on sales. >
  
  Yeah this is a confusing amount of sales. Is everyone in his community just rich and willing to buy a ton? Or maybe one relative is loaded and just bought a bunch to donate as well. Even if every house he visiting in a day bought a tin it still seems far outside of achievable. >
  
  Maybe he's a future entrepreneur and hired kids to go to surrounding areas. Hell he could have sold them online. >
  
  Could be something like that, he’s got a brighter future than me if he’s capable of it. >
  
  This is how they do it now, currently working on an e-commerce fundraising site and you would not believe the size of some of the orders. Family in other states can now order a ton for all their friends without having to fill out a form, and a check meetup and wait. So it's believable, I'm sure he has a good amount of extended family involved in the community, especially churches >
  
  How much popcorn do you have to sell to get $11k profit?  Did he stumble upon a marijuana convention? >
  
  An impossible amount, the details from the article don't add up. Good on the kid for being so generous but I don't believe for a second that he cleared over 11k in profit from boy scout popcorn sales alone. >
  
  Maybe he didn’t sell popcorn through the scout organization where he would not get back much. Maybe he sold some other kind of popcorn? >
  
  Solid gold popcorn >
  
  
  
  12-year-old Boy Scout has turned into secret Santa, buying Christmas presents for over a hundred children in foster care and shelters who might not otherwise get to enjoy the holiday season.
  
  
  Jonathan Werner said he was inspired to carry out his philanthropy project after hearing about his father's own childhood experience in foster care.
  
  
  "Based upon stories that I have from him, it didn't really sound like they had much of a Christmas," he told "Good Morning America."
  
  
  This year, 138 children across four Minnesota counties – Kanabec, Isanti, Pine and Chisago counties – as well as some children in part of Anoka County will receive basic necessities and personal care items some requested and gift cards and toys Jonathan selected for them. 
  
  
  He chose the items on multiple shopping trips based on lists that local social workers he partnered with would share with him to help guide the process.
  
  
  The seventh-grader said he bought about 600 presents overall, totaling approximately $11,300.
  
  
  To fund the gifts, he sold popcorn to local community members and this year, he made more than he was expecting.
  
  
  But throughout the journey, Jonathan said he's simply happy to give back.
  
  
  It also makes me really happy to know that kids that wouldn't really get a Christmas are getting a Christmas because of my project," Jonathan said.
  
  
  His parents say they couldn't be more impressed. "I'm proud of what he chose to do and the number of people that he can reach with this project," Steven Kolk (father) told "GMA." >
  
  Do not buy popcorn from the Boy Scouts. I’m an Eagle Scout and sold it for them and they screw the kids out of what they are supposed to get. Just give a donation to the troop and if you want you probably could get it deducted on your taxes too. >
  
  I remember busting my ass selling chocolate bars and I didn’t get anything in return. I went door to door for hours, selling just over 100 of them. >
  
  I sold over $1000 in popcorn, was supposed to get a $65 gift card to Walmart. They refused to send it. So I don’t buy anything from them. >
  
  I don't remember being told I could get gift cards. Are you sure that wasn't troop specific? >
  
  100%. 
  It was the popcorn company’s way of getting kids to do their work. Like with the school sales in elementary school where you’d get a tchotchke prize for selling x amount and it was tiered. I hit the $1000 tier which was a $65 giftcard to Walmart that year(this is around mid 2000’sish) >
  
  I was in in the 90s.
  I'm looking at it; looks like they do send cards, and you would have been gifted 6.5 percent, which checks out.
  So what did they say exactly? Do you think your scoutmaster could have stolen it?
  Although, this does remind me of when I was the school's top seller of magazine subscriptions when I was a kid. The fulfillment was hit or miss. I bought three subscriptions for myself, and never got my first Dog Fancy. >
  
  I don’t remember at this point. Just over half my life ago, and I know my mom dealt with them more since I was in middle school. I’d have to ask her >
  
  Sick scrolling and read this as ‘burns’ not buys. I was like what in the fresh hell… >
  
  There was a "breakfast with Santa" event when I was in foster care and even as a kid it touched me that so many people donated toys to us- (packed in shoe boxes, so cute) because a lot of foster kids don't get that sort of individualized attention and care. Still one of my most favorite Christmas memories! >
  
  A lot of people seem to be in disbelief that this kid could have made $11k in profit, but it's entirely possible for a few reasons.
  A) Scouts take home about 33% of all sales, so he would have "only" had to sell  roughly $33,000 in popcorn (technically it goes to the scout's troop, but many troops send that money straight to the scout for use on their adventures and service projects). $33k seems like a butt ton but several scouts in my area sold $10k+, so it's not impossible for a particularly entrepreneurial kid.
  B) Scouts can sell popcorn online now. All they need to do is send out their personal link and everything else is taken care of. Few scouts only do door-to-door and sitting outside a grocery store sales anymore.
  C) This isn't the first time this kid has done such a thing. This year was a record year but in the past he's also sold and donated thousands of dollars of products.
  Source: I work for the Boy Scouts and helped handle popcorn sales for my area this year. I have also been involved as a scout/assistant scoutmaster since 2005, including selling thousands of dollars of popcorn myself a couple of years. >
  
  I would disagree with the online taking over in person sales point. from my experience (i was in scouts from 2010-2022) few people buy online if anyone and most scouts get their sales going through their neighborhoods, their families, and storefront sales. >
  
  r/orphancrushingmachine >
  
  Nice to read a story about a great kid ! >
  
  I wanted to feel good about this and read through some comments.  Reddit ruined it. >
  
  He’s a good one. He was raised well. >
  
  so true. made his parents proud.
  his father’s stories made such an impact to this good son that he was moved to act and reach out & share to those kids in foster care so that they too may feel loved and be seen.
  kudos to this boy.
  edit: spelling >
  
  I'm glad his father used his experiences to become a great dad and raise an amazing kid. My partners mother had a terrible abusive and violent upbringing and continued the cycle by inflicting the same on her own kids, my partner has vowed that when we have kids they will never ever ever have to go through what she did. >
  
  Kudos to both of you. It's tough to break the vicious cycle of violence, but your partner chose to be a better person, and she continues to rise above her abusive upbringing. Because she understands how it felt to not be truly cared for by her parents, she'll do her utmost to shower your future kids with much love. You'll both make good parents. >
  
  Although we could also be called bad parents. We are both ginger, which means our kids will be too. Those poor Red haired bastards didn't stand a chance from the start. /s >
  
  A feel-good holiday piece about a kid with rich parents.  Maybe instead let's tax the loaded people and support social structures that prevent the necessity for foster care in the first place. >
  
  "Dad was in foster care" doesn't really signal privileged, generational wealth to me. You're leaping to conclusions. Agree on the second part though. >
  
  When did I say anything about generational wealth? >
  
  Aw, that's very sweet :) I'm glad to see BSA in the news for something nice, for once. Keep up the good work, kid! >
  
  I'm all for celebrating the kid but let's not give the BSA credit it hasn't earned. >
  
  Boy Scouts, pfft. Damn do-gooders. They are a menace to Gotham, oh wait….this life really did this. For a second there I thought he was a hero from a comic book. Instead he’s an actual true life SUPER hero.  
  Great job my dude!!! >
  
  This kid was used by an organization the went into bankruptcy because of a nearly $2.5 billion dollar settlement for all the child raping. BSA/Mormon Church made a shit ton of mo way off this kids free labor, gave a negligible amount to needy children, then went on raping children and covering up child rape. Someone should rescue this kid before he gets sucked in further. >
  
  Well, this kid doesn’t know all that. Instead of shitting on the kid, I’d rather promote his positive attitude. >
  
  Read my comment again, I didn’t shit on the kid I shit on the child rape organization that used him to fund their child rape.