Matthew Chu, Eagle Scout
Total Volunteer Hours Worked: 125
My eagle project is a two-week shoes drive that benefited the Soles4Souls program. Soles4Souls is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fight poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing. The organization aims to provide relief to those in need around the world, including individuals affected by natural disasters, poverty, and other crises. Additionally, Soles4Souls supports micro-enterprise efforts by providing footwear and entrepreneurial opportunities to help empower individuals and communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
In total, I collected around 600 pairs of shoes and distributed bags to about 850 homes, averaging around a 70% donation rate.
Observations and Challenges
During the project working days, I was able to get a good number of volunteers and teach volunteers how to place flyers and bags on the doors. The volunteers hit the zoned houses and all the Scouts enjoyed helping out at the project.
Some notable challenges faced during the project were planning errors before and during the project. Prior to the project, it would have been more efficient to have some scouts help staple bags to flyers and have other scouts work on other aspects of the project, so multiple tasks were being completed at once. During the project, one of the challenges I faced were with volunteers whom arrived late to the project; I had to account for these late arrivals by staggering teams and volunteer groups to different zones.
Changes (from Original Proposal)
Following the initial project proposal, I had to take time to redraw and organise some of the maps and volunteer routes due to construction that I hadn’t accounted for. In addition, I had to staple most of the bags myself as there wasn’t a designated project day to complete stapling.
Leadership
I demonstrated being a leader by utilizing proper organization, contact information, and alternate drop-off locations which emphasize my abilities in planning, coordinating, and directing a large-scale project that involves multiple people and requires careful management. The most difficult thing about being a leader is being able to adapt to different situations on the fly. Since scouts sometimes showed up late, I had to find a place to fit them in and have them volunteer right away. The most rewarding thing about being a leader is seeing your hardwork pay-off. Since all the planning took hours, being able to easily execute the project successfully with help from my volunteers was very rewarding. I learned to always be willing to compromise, but having to set good boundaries within groups so that they can work effectively. I was able to manage a larger group of individuals than before, which included adult drivers.
Project Work Days