Taylor's Eagle Project at the Soup Ktichen

Another one down... just one more to go! (squeal...)

Taylor's Eagle Project was to plan, organize, prepare, and clean-up a meal at our community Soup Kitchen.

He has been so close to earning his Eagle for the past three years, but let two merit badges keep him from taking the plunge. Yes, of course those would be the infamous Personal Management and Family Life. The two that have kept many a near Eagle Scout from becoming a true Eagle. He finally bucked up and pushed it to completion. I guess most mom's would have been a little more forceful in getting their son to complete it, but I wanted him to know that HE earned this and NOT his mother, which you hear so often. All of my boys have earned their own Eagles. I was a huge help to them when they were Cub Scouts, but once they hit the Varsity Scout level, I backed out. The reasons are numerous, the main one being that I couldn't have earned it for them even if I tried. You see, I am not real skilled when it comes to merit badges relating to turning your clothing into flotation devices in freezing cold water (I would have drowned before I got it made), or in wilderness survival (I think I'd rather NOT survive than eat worms, bugs, etc), or reptile and amphibian study (NO thanks!), or orienteering (I prefer a GPS!). Oh, and lets not forget Environmental Science. That has to be the worst one of all. It's no coincidence that one has "mental" as part of it's name. Just reading that one over, nearly sent me to the looney bin.

Luckily they have all had great leaders, which is a bonus, but what's the point of earning an Eagle if you don't really EARN it? It doesn't mean anything if that's what happens. I do admit, when it comes to the big project, that I enjoy helping them plan and carry that part out. But that's the point of it anyway. They are supposed to recruit enough help to reach at least 60 volunteer hours. Taylor ended up with over a hundred. He had AMAZING support! Our church members were awesome and every single player on the varsity high school basketball team also came and helped out.

He did a great job organizing and planning it. It was a bit overwhelming to plan something that he'd never really done before. Our family has helped out numerous times at the soup kitchen, but planning an entire meal from start to finish is a bit different than just showing up. But it came off without a hitch and was a great success.

We arrived early to get the food prepared and in the oven.. (you will need to click to enlarge)
























We had so many youth show up after school to help that I had to really scrape to come up with something for them all to do. They were all so awesome to do whatever we asked.

The basketball team all arrived together after practice that the coach cut short so they could come and help. They don't look that tall when they are down there on the floor during a game and you are up in the bleachers. They were giants!

They were all so entertaining. Every single one of them was polite, well mannered, and loaded with personality. It was fun for me to get to know some of them better. Taylor is in the middle.

The servers looking all tough in their stylin' hair nets!

These guys (and Coach) volunteered to do the dessert table. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it...

The dishwashers were working very hard the whole night...they had it down to a science before night's end.

They did manage to squeeze in a little fun...

Cobbley trying to come up with a good explanation for his antics...

This cute little guy ↓ was in all his glory being able to meet the entire team.
He still worshipped them even with their hair nets! :)

Once the patrons were served, the team had permission to eat also. And eat they did. They eat a lot! And I mean a LOT!















Serious about their food.
They weren't serious once the entire night, until they started eating. DO NOT INTERRUPT! :)

We had a great clean up crew as well.

We served 87. They are hoping to get the numbers up but since they relocated, they have dropped some. It is a great service that the community provides to those who are in need. It was a great opportunity for all involved that came and helped as well.

Good job Taylor. You are now officially an Eagle Scout. Congrats!

Now the real work begins for me... the Court of Honor! ugh...

Sidenote:
I made the team BEE cupcakes to thank them for helping out. That week they had suffered two tough losses (both by one point & down to the buzzer) that was heartbreaking. But they were still tied for first in Region.














This is a photo of their redeeming game against Bonneville (MY alma mater!) Another game down to the buzzer by one point only this time we were victorious! The students swarmed the floor to get to the team. It was awesome! I'm attributing it to my cupcakes!☺ LOL

~Buzz~ Buzz ~ Buzz~