Eagle Scout Project Issue

[Anonymous]

My son is an Eagle Scout candidate and he has been contacting numerous organizations with his ideas for his service project. Once in a while, he will receive an email expressing interest, but then the interest generally fades away and they stop responding to him. He has contacted animal shelters, homeless organizations, community organizations, parks and rec etc. He is getting depressed and frustrated and I'm worried that he is going to throw the towel. Most of his friends became Eagle scouts by doing a service project for their church. We are not religious and we do not belong to a church We have contacted some churches, but most of them give their projects to the scout troop of their home church. I'd like to help him with some new ideas. We really didn't think that it would be this difficult to find a project. One of the animal shelters was very interested in his ideas and he was excited an put together his project book and then they basically ghosted him and completely stopped responding. I try to stay as little involved as possible because this is really HIS project and HE needs to do the work, but it is breaking my heart at this point to see him so defeated.

[Anonymous]

What about a project to build something for the shelter or your community? A teen in our HOA built benches for the community pond. He presented the board with designs for the benches and proposed placement. We approved and then he carried out the rest of the project on his own. He did a really nice job and the organization involvement was minimal.

[Anonymous]

Try Riverbend Park in Fairfax if you are in the area.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer for Girl Scouts and BSA, and our Gold Awards are similar to Eagle Scout awards but have a different philosophy behind them, and they take take longer and have a far more bureaucratic approval process to get projects moving. I have thoughts!

hopefully I can provide some insight into where the wheels may be coming off. I'll also add up-front that at least where I live, Eagle Scout awards have a bad reputation for being all about using other people's volunteer time to make one kid look good. I know the whole point of the project is that a Scout is supposed to bring people together, but you should be aware of the prejudices people might be bringing to the conversation. Girl Scout Gold Awards are different in that they are self-run and funded and don't use others' labor in the same way, so we have easier community buy-in for Gold Awards.

Get on the phone or show up in person. HS kids hide behind email under the guise of "being professional" but they are usually doing it to avoid the energy and courage it takes to go and have conversations in person or to pick up the phone. If you find a contact person via email, don't try to keep the conversation going by email- set up a time to go and meet in person or to have a phone call or (least-preferable) a zoom call.

Also, you need to talk to him beyond "ideas" about a service project and get him to frame his project as something that is essentially fully thought-through and just needs the location/approval/etc.

I volunteer with another community organization and we are inundated with volunteers who have "ideas for a project" but ghost us when it's time to do the work to make it happen. I don't have the time to hand-hold someone through 80% of a project and then be on the ground for the final 20% of it while someone else gets all of the credit for my org's work. I've had that experience and am very protective of my org's resources now.

It's possible that the groups your DS is reaching out to have had similar experiences and don't have the resources to nudge your DS from "idea" to making the project happen. He's going to need to show more initiative and more planning to get the attention of the partners he needs to see this through.

If you are really stuck, look up Gold Award resources from Girl Scouts. There are some great free resources and first-person write ups that provide a ton of information about how to handle roadblocks, how to gather resources and volunteers, and how to engage with the community.

[Anonymous]

What area are you in?
A rescue group ( animals) might be more open to a project.
Our Church does a food pantry once a month, non religious that could always use help.
My kid raised money for a disabled friend that needed equipment insurance didn’t cover, no hoops to jump through for that. She just gave them the cash.
I know nothing about Eagle Scout projects so not sure what else to suggest.

[Anonymous]

Can you share where you live? Our church would be open to working with your son but not sure if we are close enough to you.

[Anonymous]

The advice from 12:51 is excellent.

I would also encourage him to do some informational interviewing if you have any friends or family who work for similar organizations. Doesn't need to be the same organizations he is targeting, in fact t's better if they are not. Find out why they might be enthusiastic or unenthusiastic about a project and how best to present himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you share where you live? Our church would be open to working with your son but not sure if we are close enough to you.

We are in Fairfax (close to Fairfax City)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The advice from 12:51 is excellent.

I would also encourage him to do some informational interviewing if you have any friends or family who work for similar organizations. Doesn't need to be the same organizations he is targeting, in fact t's better if they are not. Find out why they might be enthusiastic or unenthusiastic about a project and how best to present himself.

I'm 12:51 and informational interviewing is a brilliant idea. We have our Girl Scouts do something similar starting at a young age- maybe 5th or 6th grade- if they want to go through the awards progression. It's one thing to have an idea in your head, but another to have to explain it to someone else.

It will be hard to get your kid out of the mindset of "this is a thing I have to check off so I can be called an Eagle Scout" and into the mindset of "this project will help me build skills that will serve me well through college and my adult life", but keep an eye on that as the ultimate goal. It takes a lot of maturity and it's ok if the project and award doesn't happen. That in itself will be its own lesson and regret about how he might have done it differently could provide just as much of a learning experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What area are you in?
A rescue group ( animals) might be more open to a project.
Our Church does a food pantry once a month, non religious that could always use help.
My kid raised money for a disabled friend that needed equipment insurance didn’t cover, no hoops to jump through for that. She just gave them the cash.
I know nothing about Eagle Scout projects so not sure what else to suggest.

We are in Fairfax County (close to Fairfax City). His proposal to the animal shelter was to build raised dog beds (wood or PVC), an outdoor donation bin and include a food/pet supply drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I volunteer for Girl Scouts and BSA, and our Gold Awards are similar to Eagle Scout awards but have a different philosophy behind them, and they take take longer and have a far more bureaucratic approval process to get projects moving. I have thoughts!

hopefully I can provide some insight into where the wheels may be coming off. I'll also add up-front that at least where I live, Eagle Scout awards have a bad reputation for being all about using other people's volunteer time to make one kid look good. I know the whole point of the project is that a Scout is supposed to bring people together, but you should be aware of the prejudices people might be bringing to the conversation. Girl Scout Gold Awards are different in that they are self-run and funded and don't use others' labor in the same way, so we have easier community buy-in for Gold Awards.

Get on the phone or show up in person. HS kids hide behind email under the guise of "being professional" but they are usually doing it to avoid the energy and courage it takes to go and have conversations in person or to pick up the phone. If you find a contact person via email, don't try to keep the conversation going by email- set up a time to go and meet in person or to have a phone call or (least-preferable) a zoom call.

Also, you need to talk to him beyond "ideas" about a service project and get him to frame his project as something that is essentially fully thought-through and just needs the location/approval/etc.

I volunteer with another community organization and we are inundated with volunteers who have "ideas for a project" but ghost us when it's time to do the work to make it happen. I don't have the time to hand-hold someone through 80% of a project and then be on the ground for the final 20% of it while someone else gets all of the credit for my org's work. I've had that experience and am very protective of my org's resources now.

It's possible that the groups your DS is reaching out to have had similar experiences and don't have the resources to nudge your DS from "idea" to making the project happen. He's going to need to show more initiative and more planning to get the attention of the partners he needs to see this through.

If you are really stuck, look up Gold Award resources from Girl Scouts. There are some great free resources and first-person write ups that provide a ton of information about how to handle roadblocks, how to gather resources and volunteers, and how to engage with the community.

OP here, this is excellent advice. Thank you so much for sharing. My son is shy and often uncomfortable to call or approach others, but this may be a learning experience for him to come out of his shell if he REALLY wants this. His original idea was the restoration of a historic cemetery area, but we ran into too many county/state approval issuse as well as working with historical societies. He loves animals and he made a new proposal to an animal shelter for building raised dog beds (out of wood or PVC) in addition to an outdoor donation bin and coupled with a pet food/pet supply drive. But, he is of course open to any needs that a shelter may have instead. Another idea was to build a 'reading area' in a DV shelter perhaps (building bookshelves and stocking them with books/magazines/art supplies) in addition to supplying bean bag chairs and other comfort items that a DV shelter may need. He is an avid reader himself and he thought that this would be an excellent opportunity to help out and also share one of his own passions.

[Anonymous]

Most Food banks are happy to have kids run a food drive for them. City of Rockville public works always has a list of projects for Eagle Scouts. Maybe you town has one too. Surprised his troop is not given suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The advice from 12:51 is excellent.

I would also encourage him to do some informational interviewing if you have any friends or family who work for similar organizations. Doesn't need to be the same organizations he is targeting, in fact t's better if they are not. Find out why they might be enthusiastic or unenthusiastic about a project and how best to present himself.

I'm 12:51 and informational interviewing is a brilliant idea. We have our Girl Scouts do something similar starting at a young age- maybe 5th or 6th grade- if they want to go through the awards progression. It's one thing to have an idea in your head, but another to have to explain it to someone else.

It will be hard to get your kid out of the mindset of "this is a thing I have to check off so I can be called an Eagle Scout" and into the mindset of "this project will help me build skills that will serve me well through college and my adult life", but keep an eye on that as the ultimate goal. It takes a lot of maturity and it's ok if the project and award doesn't happen. That in itself will be its own lesson and regret about how he might have done it differently could provide just as much of a learning experience.

OP here. I agree with you. I'm at the point to let it all go and if he has enough drive to get this done, then it will happen and if not, it will be a learning experience that he may always regret, but it may also make him look at future choices in a different way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most Food banks are happy to have kids run a food drive for them. City of Rockville public works always has a list of projects for Eagle Scouts. Maybe you town has one too. Surprised his troop is not given suggestions.

The troop in itself has been an issue all along and I probably should have seen the writing on the wall much earlier. I blame myself for this.

[Anonymous]

Try contacting The Unitarian church in Oakton. Email the coordinating team and ask to be put in touch with the person who coordinates Eagle Scout projects.