Apr 23, 2018 3 min read

Four years ago, Cub Scout Pack 1138 in Washington was in disarray and on the verge of disbanding until one of the mothers agreed to step up and take on the challenge of reorganizing the group.

Katrina Wilk assumed the responsibility with the specific goal of making the pack open and accessible to all families, charging members nothing for dues, uniforms, books, camping or any other planned activity. Pack 1138 soon became known as Katrina’s Kubs, and it once again became a successful group, going from just six members to 36. But that was all placed in jeopardy when the theft of almost $4,500 from the pack’s bank account was discovered last fall.

The pack’s former treasurer, Tonia Casterline, 50, of 20 Bel Air Drive, Canton Township, was charged by state police with 28 counts of theft in January. Earlier this month, she was placed in the accelerated rehabilitative disposition program for 24 months and is to repay the $4,423.

Melanie White, the pack’s current Cubmaster, read an impact statement during an April 12 proceeding before Judge Valarie Costanzo, outlining how the theft affected the pack. She discovered the money had been stolen after asking the bank for an account balance when Casterline could not or would not provide it.

Some of the thefts reportedly occurred as Wilk was dying of cancer. White said one of the checks was written by Casterline two days after Wilk died, as the pack was mourning her passing.

White said she discovered the theft after asking for a check last September to get den books for all of the new Scouts who had signed up the previous month.

“There should have been about $1,500 in the account,” White said, adding that when she went to the bank she learned there was only $366. She closed the account, opened a new one and contacted state police.

Court documents filed in the case indicate Casterline told Trooper Thomas Kress, who filed the charges, she made checks out to cash, endorsed them and used the money to help pay her family’s bills.

White told the court that Casterline was trusted in her role of treasurer.

“Sadly, she took advantage of that trust,” White said. “That’s what gets me the most.”

As Wilk’s illness progressed, necessary shifts were taking place in leadership roles and responsibilities. It was realized then that the review and monitoring of the monthly bank statements at the committee level were not being done thoroughly or effectively, White told the court.

White and Wilk’s husband, Dave Wilk, pay for much of the pack’s needs until they can get back on their feet. The pack continues to have a uniform closet where other scouts can get uniforms that have been outgrown by others. White said parents were not reimbursed for items, but generously waived payment.

White said Wilk would have wanted the pack to continue.

“We persevere knowing that her (Casterline’s) actions will neither define our pack or destroy Katrina’s legacy,” White told the court in closing. “We are Pack 1138. We are Katrina’s Kubs.”