“Where I go to school, we have kids coming from everywhere. For the most part the kids are pretty stable but the older kids need help with school supplies and often the older kids’ needs are overshadowed,” Bond says.
So for his Eagle Scout project, Bond decided to help fill this need for school supplies. With the help of his grandmother, he found out about the Children’s Cabinet at Redfield Academy and soon set out to acquire backpacks for all of its students.
“I like working with people, specifically with kids,” says Bond. He spent a summer volunteering at an elementary school which helped give him the idea. After contacting the Children’s Cabinet, he went around to local businesses asking for monetary donations and school supplies. He soon raised $945 and used it to buy binders, notebooks, thumb drives, pencils, and more.
“My whole dining room was full of supplies,” Bond says. Enlisting the help of his Boy Scout Troop, they filled 52 backpacks of materials.
“We put them together on August 15 and I delivered them to the school on August 17,” says Bond. Although he didn’t personally hand them out to the students on the first day of school, Bond did see some of the backpacks at a special luncheon held for the volunteers on September 16.
“At the luncheon the kids cooked for us and everyone was really nice,” says Bond. “I saw a couple of kids using the backpacks.”
Overall, he said that his Eagle Scout project was very rewarding and hand-delivering letters to businesses helped him strengthen his leadership abilities.
“It really was a great experience and taught me a lot. It made me realize how much work it is to buy school supplies. I feel fortunate to have parents who did that for me,” he says. “I feel way more appreciation and grateful to have had that growing up,” Bond added.
His mother, Kim Bond, also noticed a difference when her son completed the project. “It was fun to watch him get into something he’s passionate about and I saw firsthand how much more appreciative he is of us buying him and his siblings their school supplies.
“It was great to get to watch the project from beginning to end,” she added. “The fact that he did this all on his own…it’s hard for a teenager to approach businesses for donations; I’m very proud of him.”
Redfield Academy Coordinator Nancy Noonan who worked with Bond on the project said, “This was a big project for him. These school supplies and backpacks are often for at-risk kids who don’t have access to that.
I know his mother is involved with CAAW (Committee To Aid Abused Women) and so his whole background is meeting the needs of those less fortunate than him and he wanted to help the kids his age. The kids were happy about the backpacks and are grateful to have the supplies.
Jacob’s whole willingness to be part of Redfield Academy, to choose this as his project and take the initiative was very much appreciated.”
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