Eagle Service Project

An Eagle Scout Service Project is different from other service projects a Scout has done because he is now the leader! You must plan, organize, and direct a project of meaningful service to a school, religious institution or to the community. You must make all the arrangements yourself, but recruit volunteers to work on the project. This is your opportunity to demonstrate leadership and responsibility. You are expected to be in charge of this project and the project should be a reflection of you, your goals, and your abilities.

The Eagle Project must meet three criteria:

1. It must be of significant value to the community outside of Scouting (town, church, school, park, etc.).
2. It must take considerably more time than a Star or Life project (possibly 2 to 6 months, including time for planning and preparation, so begin at least six months before your 18th birthday).
3. The Eagle Scout Candidate must provide leadership to others during the project (the project idea does not have to be original, but the Scout must be in charge; and two people cannot lead the same project).

When to begin

The Eagle Scout Candidate may begin working toward his Eagle Service Project anytime after he’s earned the rank of Life Scout, regardless of the number of merit badges that he has earned. His project idea must be approved by the Scoutmaster, Troop Committee, and Bill Hart District Eagle Advisor before you actually begin working on the project.

You must follow the instructions in the Life to Eagle packet carefully. All the necessary steps are outlined in the packet and most of the material can be used in the writing of the final report. Make several copies of the packet before writing anything. Make all your entries in the copies and when you are satisfied with your work, then fill out the original forms.

Steps to Follow

1. You should try to choose a project idea which is valuable to the community and a challenge to you. It does not have to be an original idea, but you must do all of the planning for your project and may not use someone else's plan. The project may not be routine labor (like cutting the grass at Grace Baptist Church).   It may not benefit the BSA or any Scout property or any business or individual.  Fundraising is normally only permitted to obtain money to pay for materials you need for your project.

   Seek suggestions from local groups, such as the Santa Clarita Mayor's office, Grace Baptist Church, Los Angeles County Fire Department, schools and nurseries, local parks, your school, etc. Project ideas can also be found in the newspaper or from community organization. Let the word out that you are looking for project ideas and see what input you get. As you look around for ideas, write down several which interest you. Some Scouts spend three or four months (or more) trying to find the right project..

   Here are some service projects that have been done by other Scouts:

   • Construct voting booths
   • Community bicycle Registration
   • Build a playground
   • Pond clean-up
   • Build gazebo covering bleachers at Carrousel Ranch
   • Repair fence at Placerita Canyon Nature Center
   • Repair trail at Hart Park
   • Hearing aid, eyeglass or clothing drive for local shelter
   • Homeless shelter concert
   • Car wash to benefit hospital
   • Book drive for the library
   • Plant trees along a bike path
   • Blood Drive

2. After deciding on a project and discussing your ideas with your Scoutmaster, prepare a project plan. The project can be explained in about two pages, plus supporting tables, lists, diagrams, layouts, photographs. The project plan may be typed on a typewriter or computer, or may be hand-written, but it must be very neat. While this is not an English paper, you should use your best grammar. The plan should tell someone else everything they would need to know to carry out your project without you present. You must specify the project objectives, how you plan to accomplish the project, what resources you have, and what materials and supplies will be purchased or donated, including any fundraising efforts. This should fully disclose how you intend to carry out the project and should be supported with lists of tools, expenses, hours required. Provide a milestone chart that shows each of the steps to be completed, when the steps will be accomplished, how many volunteer hours each step will require. Although there is no requirement on the number of hours to do your project, experience shows that planning takes about 25 hours and then actually doing the project may take about 100 hours (or more).

3. Obtain approval from the sponsoring organization, the Scoutmaster, the Troop Committee and the District Advancement Committee. This usually requires about two or more weeks. You may be asked to revise or change parts of the plan and to resubmit for approval, which could add several more weeks.

4. Before you start your project, even before you begin planning your project, get a notebook. Record events in your notebook when they happen and keep as accurate a set of notes as possible. When you call or visit someone to discuss your project, write that in your notebook. Make a separate section to record what you buy, what is donated, any moneys that you receive. In a separate section, record when you do the various parts of your project, who helped, how much time each of the volunteers spent on the project. Make a section to list tools and equipment. You can never keep too much information while you are doing a project!

5. Arrange to have a contact person from the sponsor to monitor the progress of the project. Also, locate a technically knowledgeable person to guide and instruct you as you work on your project.

6. Finally you and your volunteers can actually do the project. This is usually the fun part You do not actually do the project, though you may work on the project — this is your opportunity to demonstrate leadership by motivating other people and by directing the project. Your volunteers may include members of your or other Troops, or may be done entirely by non-Scouts. (If you choose to use members of Troop 3:16, you’ll need to file a BSA Local Tour Permit and have parents sign permission slips for all Scouts participating — ask the Troop Committee or Scoutmaster for help with these). You and your Parents are responsible for providing or arranging all support for the project (transportation, meals, water, etc.) Take lots of photos of the project — this will show the Eagle Board of Review what you have done better than words — and keep your Eagle Service Project notebook up to date with lists of all work done, who does the work, and how much time they each spent. For your final report, you will need to discuss how well the plan worked and all areas where you were not able to follow the plan, so keep good track of this information as you go along.

7. After completing the project, summarize the project with a final report. As you write your report, emphasize your leadership, your planning, your organization of project details, your direction of the project volunteers. Discuss how the project was accomplished, any problems that you encountered, any changes or deviations from your project approval form. Discuss budget, funding, volunteer hours involved, tools and equipment. The report should indicate how the sponsor, the people involved, and you benefit from the project. It should include before and after photos, receipts, flyers, and all other pertinent records of the project.

See Also

• A Good Turn
• Service Project
• Trail to Eagle
• Eagle Requirements
• Eagle Application
• Youth Leadership