Brendan W., a Scout from Great Falls, VA, was recognized by The Washington Post for his Eagle Scout Project, which was themed around music, a subject he is very passionate about.
Brendan’s project involved collecting instruments, repairing them if necessary, and giving them to low-income youth. What was expected to be no more than 25 instruments quickly turned into over 100 instruments he collected and repaired!
Read the full article: The Washington Post
In December 1824, Frederick City, Maryland, had the honor of hosting the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer who was a key ally to the American colonists during the Revolutionary War.
Lafayette’s visit to Frederick, from December 29-31, 1824, drew crowds estimated at 6-8,000 people from all over Frederick County and the surrounding region, eager to catch a glimpse of the man who had fought alongside George Washington in the American Revolution.
On December 27, 2024, Frederick City once again celebrated Lafayette’s arrival to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of his visit. Standing before the Marquis de Lafayette, portrayed by renowned living historian Mark Schneider of Colonial Williamsburg and led by a Fife and Drum contingent, Scouts from Troop 3017 were honored to act as color guard for the event.
The Scouts spent several weeks working with the Son’s of the American Revolution to learn proper flag etiquette. Scouts learned the formal commands and how to march in unison while holding the United States, French, Maryland, and Troop flags. Scouts enjoyed working with fellow community members to represent the citizens of Frederick City and honor this important moment in history.
Ever since he led a service project creating STEM kits for children at the Katherine Hanley Shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shivam P. knew he wanted to dedicate his Eagle Scout project to the shelter. Working with the community manager, they came up with the idea of building two bookshelves to help alleviate some storage issues they were having. He added in the school supply and book drive afterward to go along with the shelves since they would be delivered around the back-to-school season.
One of Shivam’s most challenging steps was creating an intricate and thorough plan, which took a considerable amount of time. He needed to go into detail on many parts to get approval, so it took a long time to research everything and ensure that his project could be carried out effectively. Additionally, he designed the shelves himself instead of using an existing design, so he had to add details to prove that the shelves would hold up over time and wouldn’t break.
Shivam started this process in July 2023 and completed his project on August 19, 2024, after spending 114 hours on it. The shelves were built from scratch, had a custom staining job, and ended up being 3 feet tall and 4 and 3 feet wide.
When asked what were some key lessons/skills he learned during his journey to complete his Eagle project, Shivam said, “Managing multiple people was a skill I didn’t think I would learn as much as I did on the day of the project. I had general plans for what people would work on, but on the actual day of the project there were more people than jobs, so I had to find out how to give everyone a task to do while not overcrowding any one area and reducing efficiency. I ended up having some people be extra quality checkers to make sure that certain pieces were assembled properly, which worked to give everyone a meaningful task.”
The shelter can accommodate up to 20 families, and the inclusion of these shelves will help store items such as books in the children’s room, give the shelter more storage space, and provide something small enough that the kids can easily access the books on the shelves.
For his Eagle Scout project, Lucas M. from Troop 2535 prepared 100 meals for residents of Alexandria Community Shelter (ACS). With 50 residents at ACS, Lucas provided meals for all of them on two different weekends. These residents depend on food donations, so Lucas said, “This project will show that the community cares about them.”
Lucas was originally going to build a bench located at Lyon Village Community House in Arlington, close to his home, but as he said in an article written by Shirley Ruhe about his project plan, “People would use a bench once in a while, and it didn’t speak to me. I wanted to do something I enjoy, and that would be personal.” This led to his decision to make 100 meals of homemade pasta for the residents of the Carpenter Shelter in Alexandria, near his high school. This would eventually change to the ACS, which the Carpenter Shelter runs because the original location had enough donations, whereas ACS didn’t have nearly as many and also allowed people under 18 to serve.
Lucas really enjoys cooking and feeding others. He has made boxed pasta for his confirmation project and homemade pasta with his grandmother. His meals would include homemade Fettuccine and Meatballs topped with spaghetti sauce, with sides of garlic bread and green beans. He created a shopping list of everything he needed, set up a GoFundMe page for $345 in cash donations, made an Amazon Wish List for some of the food and supplies, put up a flyer at his martial arts studio, and shared the links in the Lyon Village email bulletin and with his family. He signed up volunteers online and sent the link to his Troop and a few friends, getting a total of 29 volunteers, ranging from family, friends, Troopmates, and adults.
Lucas conducted his project on June 1st and 2nd, the first weekend, and June 14th and 15th, the second weekend. Both weekends were very successful. As Lucas states, “We successfully fed everyone at the shelter who wanted food and there was enough food left over for lunch the next day. I found good prices on bread, butter, and ground beef, so I wound up with extra money for fruit salad for the second weekend. Hungry Root sent us some free kiwi fruit in our family’s meal kits, so I threw that in. People at the shelter were really happy about the fruit, especially the kiwi.”
Of course, completing a project without a couple of hiccups is very rare. “One group of volunteers didn’t show up for the correct time slot, so it was kind of stressful. Sometimes it was hard to find everyone a job, because a lot of it was just waiting for stuff to cook. On the first weekend, it was hard to cook 50 servings of pasta all at once. The second weekend, I knew what to do.”
Most importantly, Lucas demonstrated immense leadership skills throughout his project. He showed people how to do tasks, like using the pasta machine, making meatballs, and preparing garlic bread. Instead of just telling them to do it, he showed and explained the tasks in detail before assigning them. He even had directions written for volunteers at each station.
Lastly, when asked, ‘What was the most rewarding about being the leader?’ Lucas said, “With a lot of Eagle projects, you don’t get to see the effect it has. But I got pretty much instant gratification. Most people said thank you. Some people came back and asked for more. I didn’t want to be hailed as a hero, but they gave me a round of applause after dinner. If I had the money and the help, I would do this every two weeks.”
Lucas began his project on April 4, 2024, had his plans featured in an Arlington Connection and The Gazette Packet article in early June, then followed through and completed his project on June 15, 2024, after 132 hours. He completed his Eagle Board of Review on November 19, 2024.
When asked for his advice for other Scouts doing Eagle Projects, Lucas said, “Pick something you know will make a difference and something you will enjoy. You don’t need to do the same things that everyone else does.” Having been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in September, getting the answer to why he faced certain challenges and why he came up with creative solutions, Lucas feels this advice is especially important for neurodiverse Scouts because it will help them stay motivated as it did for him.
Scouting for Food is one of the biggest community projects that youths participate in as Scouts. It is an amazing opportunity for them to gain leadership skills and, more importantly, give back to their community. Sometimes, Scouts are even recognized for their hard work and dedication to helping the community.
Troop 1321 from La Plata, Maryland, went above and beyond for Scouting for Food 2024, and The Baynet | Southern Maryland News acknowledged their efforts!
Along with the normal Scouting for Food Campaign at the beginning of November, Troop 1321 held its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive at Safeway on November 24th, 2024, and collected 1,337 pounds of food!
Learn more about this amazing event at Scout Troop 1321’s Thanksgiving Food Drive Collects Over 1,300 Pounds Of Food For Local Food Bank
Troop 1321 wasn’t the only unit to get recognition, as a Troop from the Potomac District also received an appreciation letter attached to a bag collected on November 9th, 2024. As mentioned in the letter, Scouting for Food is not only a way for Scouts to give back to their community but also allows others “the opportunity to contribute and be a part of this valuable endeavor.”
Nov. 16 was another big day for NCAC at the annual MD Orienteering Day, taking the top 3 Troop awards. Troops 439 from Kensington and Troop 111 from Arlington were the first co-champions in the event’s 48 years, with La Plata’s Troop 1321 in third out of 49 Troops.
Alan M. of Troop 111 was the top orienteering champion out of 442 Scouts, edging out Kendall K. (College Park; her third year in the top 10). Ryan B. from Rockville’s Troop 1450 was third, Ben P. from 439 fourth, and Lucas A. from 1321 fifth, just ahead of two PA Scouts.
James T. and Isaac G. edged out 439 Troop mates Alex C. and Finn M. for top Older Category honors. Ian E. and Leo H. were the Younger Category winners. Sixth place Troop was Troop 1946 from DC, led by Charlie C’s top afternoon run in the fun, “free-for-all” Score Orienteering (requiring SPL leadership and Troop teamwork).
In 2025, the event will be on Oct. 25 (Oct. 24-26 if camping) at the Jug Bay area of Patuxent River Park near Upper Marlboro. To learn more, email DaveLinthicum@earthlink.net.
Jim Chaplin’s big 20th Annual NCAC Scout Orienteering Day will be on May 3 at Kings Ldg. Park in Calvert County. To learn more, email JHChaplin@comcast.net. Go to QOCweb.org for lists of good DC-area orienteering events suitable for Scouts.
