For one afternoon, children were in the driver’s seats of police cars, cranes and helicopters.
Chapel Hill Boy Scout Troop 39 hosted its third annual Touch a Truck event Sunday in the University Mall parking lot, where children could play in more than 30 vehicles used for emergency, construction, delivery and other services.
The event’s proceeds raise money for the troop’s programs, services and activities as well as the N.C. Children’s Hospital Promise Grant program, which benefits camps for ill children and other projects.
“I saw them land,” said 5-year-old Katie Cumberledge, describing two helicopters that landed at the event. “They were loud.”
Becky King, a nurse for UNC Carolina Air Care, said while children could go inside the helicopter, officials didn’t want them to push any buttons.
“A lot of them see it fly overhead and whatnot, so it’s nice for them to be able to see it in person,” she said.
Julie Richardson, one of the event’s organizers and a parent of three sons in the troop, said the project originated when the troop needed a way to raise money but also wanted to serve the community and support a charity.
“We just took the idea, and from the first year it’s been a huge success,” she said.
James Jennings, a 14-year-old boy scout in the troop, said the money raised from the $5 admission fee and concessions was split almost evenly between the troop and the promise grant.
