Ryan’s Eagle Scout Project–Part 1

Preface: Last Christmas a gal in our ward was part of a group that collected shoebox sized containers full of little treasures for Hungarian orphans.  She didn’t say a lot about it but announced through an email that anyone wanting to help by donating a container could.  I wanted to… but somehow I missed the opportunity and regretted it.  It had me thinking, though, and after the Christmas break I asked her about how it went, anxious to hear all about it.  She had taken her three kids – the oldest being 10 and they participated by handing each child their own box of treasures.   Because there was a child unaccounted for her oldest ran to their van to find him anything he could… a soccer ball.  As a family we looked at the pictures she had taken of their experience and immediately though that it would be a great experience for us as well.  We thought about it a lot during the year.  In December Ryan started to think about what his Eagle Project would be and this immediately came to mind.

Project Proposal: In the beginning of January Ryan googled and found the name of an organization in Budapest that helps several different orphanages and group homes throughout the area.  Ryan sent an email to the contact person and she emailed us back quickly and seemed excited about his email, especially since it was from a youth who was anxious to help.  Several emails back and forth between Patricia and Ryan, and a LOT of Eagle Scout Project Paperwork, and his plan was taking form… a Toy, Sports Equipment and Clothing Drive for Orphan kids in Budapest.  Getting the plan written up and approved took most of the month.  It really is amazing how much work was involved, but Ryan knew what had to be done, and was happy to work on each step.

Poster Party: The night after his project proposal was approved Ryan organized a POSTER PARTY.  He typed all the information on the computer and we formatted and printed everything out so he and his friends could paste them all together.  I think they made 14 posters.

Thanks to Tate, Katie, Mark, (Ryan), Amanda, Abi, Ashlene, and Alexander who are always up for a party, even when it involves a little work!

Poster/Box Set Up: Next on the To-Do List was getting the posters out in the community. He headed to the commissary several times to pick up boxes for each location.   That weekend he talked to the Bishop of the Ramstein Building and the Wiesbaden Church building to have  boxes set up in the foyer and placed them there while at the Seminary Super Saturday.  During the next several days he met with the managers of the following places and placed out his boxes.  Several of the locations helped him by volunteering to get bigger boxes and the PX locations actually took his poster and made a larger more professional one for their locations. 

• Ramstein LDS Building Foyer
• Weisbaden LDS Building Foyer
• Heidelberg LDS Building Foyer
• Commissary (Grocery Store)
• Bowling Alley
• Shoppette
• Post Office
• Main Store at the PX
• Clothing Store at the PX,
• Thrift Store.

Pick Ups:  Within about six days of getting his project approved and just a day or two of the boxes being placed, Ryan started seeing bags of clothes and toys in the boxes, and then the emails for requested ‘pickups’ start to roll in.

For the entire month of February Ryan left for Seminary at 6:20, went to Seminary, went to school, and was either picked up by Chris to do a few pick ups or came home on the bus and left for pick ups as soon as Dad got home and before Basketball Practice.  After practice or school he brought in mountains of bags and boxes and then sat at the computer to check email and respond to those who had requested pick ups for sometime in the next week.  He couldn’t believe how much time all the emailing took.  He managed to get his homework done but the kid didn’t have a spare minute after his scouting was done.   

Somewhere in the middle of February his High School Soccer team started conditioning practices and then try outs – and at some point his basketball games and practices ended but for awhile they overlapped.  Ryan made the JV team and practices started everyday after school until 5:30.   After a couple weeks of this Ryan said to me… “Mom, my life is made up of 5 S’s – Seminary, School, Soccer, Scouting and Sleep.”   So true.

Bringing in the donations 4 or 5 times a week…

Sorting and Organizing:  Patricia had asked that the clothing be sorted into group… Infant Girl, 1-3 Girl, 4-6 Girl etc…  Plus we needed to go through things and see if they had any stains or were too worn.  Sorting through things took a ton of time but the whole family helped.  A couple of different Saturday afternoons and week day nights we sorted clothing and started to go through toys – making a mess of Katie’s room downstairs.