Robert Lewis Neilson, a member of the Boy Scout Troop No. 2 out of the Quapaw Area Council and a resident of Hot Springs, has earned the honor of Eagle Scout, the highest rank offered by the Boy Scouts of America, only attained by 3-4% of Boy Scout members, a news release said.
Neilson, 17, a student at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, achieved the 21 merit badges required to receive the Eagle Scout award. For his final project, he led a project to repair and build additional raised beds for growing vegetables at the North Garland County Boys & Girls Club. The initial crop of vegetables was planted to provide snacks for the club and food for the backpack program.
"I chose this project because I wanted to help the Boys & Girls Club not only provide food for the kids who come to the club, but also educational opportunities for the students to learn to grow their own food. It was great to work alongside the students and other scouts to build the raised beds that will serve the club for years to come," Neilson said.
A ceremony honoring Neilson will take place at 2 p.m. today in Room 205 of the Hot Springs Convention Center. Family and friends are welcome to attend.
The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be "Prepared. For Life." The organization is composed of approximately 2.2 million youth members ages 5 to 21 and approximately 800,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories, the release said.