The Salvation Army's Christmas Bureau has more than its share of potentially overwhelming tasks for volunteers, but Boy Scout Troop 118 easily tackled one of the more unusual jobs this week.

Large-scale, competitive stocking-stuffing.

Sixty-nine Scouts from the troop faced the challenge Tuesday, agreeing to stuff 1,450 mesh Christmas stockings as quickly and carefully as possible with gifts for low-income children.

Speed was required, because the Scouts also committed to tagging and labeling 1,700 bikes and safety helmets as gifts, and painting a 12-foot-long banner thanking sponsors of the stocking program - all this in the same two hours.

They did it, too.

They finished every last one of the 1,450 stockings in under an hour, which is about 24 stockings per minute.

The boys also finished the bikes and the banner ... and even had time for snacks before climbing back on the bus for home.

"They almost killed me. They're so fast," said organizer Sally Weiss, of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary. "I'm exhausted. They finish something in five minutes that you expect to take 30 minutes."

Alex Wilson, 16, of South Meck High, offered a sensible explanation: "We're really competitive. I'm trying to empty my box quicker than the guy across from me, to see who's faster."

Multiply that attitude by 69 Scouts and you get something akin to the Olympics of Christmas chores, with assembly lines of boys stuffing, tossing and tying their way to victory.

This marks the second year Troop 118, based out of St. Stephen United Methodist Church, has helped the Christmas Bureau's stocking program. The bureau uses donations to the Observer's Empty Stocking Fund to buy gifts for low-income children, who this year number over 13,000.

The Salvation Army, which directs the bureau, says the Scouts are among 3,000 volunteers who'll help this year.

Families of the Scouts in Troop 118 also contributed to the cause by donating 325 fully stuffed Christmas stockings to the bureau's stockpile.

Regina Parrish, mom of 13-year-old Scout Carson Gordon, said she made her son shop for the items to put in the stockings that their family contributed.

"I told him that this stocking may be the only gift some child gets for Christmas and the look on his face said 1,000 words," she said. "Suddenly, he wanted to buy more than we could actually put in the stocking."

Scouts Mark Sullivan, 14, and Trevor Ray, 12, also kept the recipients in mind as they tagged hundreds of bikes propped up like rows of dominos. Trevor's hand got numb in the process, but he said it was worth it.

"I just want these kids to be happy on Christmas morning, seeing all their presents and a new bike," he said. "I'd think it would be pretty joyous."

Added Mark: "If you don't have money for things, something like a bike can give you hope. It's the idea of knowing somebody cares for you. That gives you hope."