Eagle Scout project beautifies veterans' facilities

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Thanks to the work of Eagle Scout candidate Jacob Harrison, the grounds of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island (OSDRI) located on Hartford Avenue have never looked more beautiful. 

Jacob is a member of Boy Scout Troop 76 in Providence, and is currently a Life Scout. He’s one of the approximately four percent of all Boy Scouts who spend years with the program and eventually go on to achieve its highest rank - Eagle Scout.  

But before he reaches that pinnacle, Jacob had to complete his Eagle Service Project. According to the Boy Scout Handbook, a Life Scout must “plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community.” The project plan needs to be approved by the benefiting organization, the troop’s Scoutmaster and troop committee before work can begin. The project is the last major step in the Scout’s advancement program. 

“I’ve been working on this for a few months,” said Jacob of his project. 

Jacob chose OSDRI in Johnston for his service project. OSDRI, a non-profit, seeks to help veterans secure stable housing and employment as well as other assistance according to individual needs. Their veterans’ services include case management, basic human needs, referrals, and education and training services. 

“Today I’m helping Operation Stand Down, they recently got three new signs and we were looking to beautify them. What I did was I got some donations of mulch, stone, and plantings,” said Jacob. “Basically, I’m building a wall around each sign and in that wall there will be plantings. Around all the walls and plantings we’ll place mulch. There are three signs, and around the main sign there will be like a staircase in which there will be plantings on every other stair.” 

Jacob, now 17, lives in Scituate and has been in Scouting since about the age of nine. The LaSalle Academy senior said he’s looking to pursue business and finance after high school, and is looking at possibly attending Quinnipiac University or Sacred Heart. 

“Scouting was a great experience as a kid. I was an only child, so I would look forward to campouts and activities because I got to hang out with friends,” he said.  “I think it’s something every kid should try.”  

Jacob’s served as Senior Patrol Leader and will soon become a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. For his project, he led most of the troop’s 25 members in beautifying OSDRI’s landscape during the past few weeks. 

“I think it’s a great project and a great organization to help. I think the Scouts are all doing a very good job and they’re working very hard,” said Troop 76 Scoutmaster Peter Grivers during the project. “It’s a very ambitious project and I thing the finished project will be a great benefit to Operation Stand Down.”  

Troop 76 is chartered through St. Augustine Church in Providence, and the boys meet every Monday in the basement of St. Augustine’s school cafeteria at 7 p.m. The troop has been a part of the local community for over 80 years. 

“I am proud of Jacob. He’s been a scout starting with the pack as a Cub Scout all the way through to about to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout,” said Grivers. “He has grown and matured in leaps and bounds, and I’m proud of him.”  

To complete the work, Jacob sought assistance from local businesses such as Jacavone’s Garden Center, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Smithfield Peat for generous donations. Carmen Boscia donated the use of his truck and tools to transport material needed for the project along with the removal of debris. Johnston’s own Espresso’s Pizza donated lunch for the hard working Scouts, and everyone’s generosity made the project a success. 

Erik Wallin, who serves as the full-time Executive Director and General Counsel for Operation Stand Down, was extremely pleased with Jacob and the Scout’s work and what it meant for the organization. 

“First of all, Jacob’s an incredibly generous and hard working young man and a credit to everything that the Scouts stand for. An organization like ours, we try to direct all of our resources to the services that we provide the veterans,” said Wallin. “Sometimes the niceties of beautification is a luxury. By him soliciting the donations and doing the work himself, it really has added to the overall environment for the veterans that live there and those that come for services from around the state, and we greatly appreciate it.”  

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