March 28, 2024

One step closer

Creston Eagle Scout candidate is creating food pantry/lending library for merit badge project

Creston Troop 129 Eagle Scout candidate Brenton Barber is moving one step closer to earning a spot among those honored with the highest rank bestowed on a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

He, with the help of his scout brothers, is working to complete a project that combines a free lending library with a small food pantry which will be erected outside the First United Methodist Church on North Elm Street to service members of the community. The structure will replace an older plastic container that was on the west side of the church.

“It’s going to be an on demand kind of thing,” Barber said. “If you need something and you can’t get it, you can go there. It’s similar to what the O’ Riley Center is doing, but it’s not on a weekly basis. It’s going to help them out as well as helping a lot of other people.”

Barber’s project works on the same concept as a Little Free Library, except with the addition of a food pantry. Little Free Libraries work on an honor system. Sometimes an individual will take a book and sometimes he or she will leave a book, and in the case of Barber’s combination lending library/food pantry, people can take food they need or leave food.

Through the fundraising efforts of the troop as well as a small donation from the church, the project will see the light of day. The only thing Barber said he was waiting for was the rain to stop. If the weather cooperates, the structure should be completed by the end of this week.

The 6 1/2 foot structure will have graphics depicting the BSA law, oath and outdoor code. It will be anchored to the ground by 4x4 posts buried 48 inches into the ground, and, because of the food stored inside, will stand 18 inches off the ground.

The inside will be sectioned off based on type of food – canned fruit will be in one section, canned vegetables will be in another and grains will be in a different section. Books will be divided by age group or reading level.

Once the structure is erected, Barber plans to hold a food and used book drive to stock it and said people have already expressed an interest in making donations.

“It’s helping out the community,” Barber said. “It’s going to give them another source of – it’s going to be another food pantry basically. It’s going to be giving them another source to get food if they need it. It’s going to give them different books to read.”

To become an Eagle Scout, a candidate must complete all the requirements before he reaches his 18th birthday. While this project won’t earn him his Eagle rank, it will earn him a new merit badge, and then he needs only one more badge and to pass the Eagle Board of Review.

“With our current calendar calculations, I will be able to get it done in time,” he said. “The only other thing I’m getting out of it, besides the badge, is leadership experience with the troop and working together with the other scouts. One of the coolest things about being a scout and working on this project is I actually get to tell the leaders what to do and not have them tell me what to do.”