photo by: contributed

Max Whittaker is pictured with the donations he and others in his Boy Scout Troop, Troop 59, collected for those experiencing homelessness as part of his Eagle Scout project.

When Max Whittaker was contemplating what to do for his Eagle Scout project, he wanted to do something that would directly help people. What he landed on was a project to collect donations for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, those without homes.

“It was important to be able to help people, to actually help them live,” Whittaker said. “… That was already motivation enough.”

Whittaker said Rod Hoffer, park facility maintenance supervisor with the City of Lawrence and mentor for Whittaker’s Boy Scout troop, Troop 59, gave him the suggestion for the project, and he knew right away it was what he was looking for. Whittaker, a senior at Lawrence High School, helped spread the word about the donation drive by designing and distributing a flyer, making presentations at two churches, and seeking donations from his high school and club swim teams.

photo by: contributed

A flyer provides information about the donation drive that Boy Scout Max Whittaker organized for his Eagle Scout project.

Whittaker started the project on April 10, and after a couple of weeks of gathering donations with the help of other scouts in his troop and other adult volunteers, he was ready to make his delivery. Once all the donations were gathered, he had dozens of large bags of adult and children’s clothing, 12 bags of toiletries and had raised enough money to purchase eight grocery bags of single-serve snacks.

Whittaker donated the clothing to the city’s homeless response team and delivered the bags of toiletries and food to the city-managed campsite in North Lawrence for those experiencing homelessness this past week. The city said the donation helped replenish its supply trailer. Mitch Young, park district supervisor and houseless liaison for the city, said in a city announcement that the impact from the donation was immediately felt by those staying at the site.

“Our team is constantly restocking these shelves to make sure our community at the temporary support site has the resources they need to survive,” Young said. “Community involvement and support is huge to the work we do, and we cannot thank Max enough.”

photo by: contributed

Max Whittaker delivers the donations for those experiencing homelessness to the city-supported campsite in North Lawrence.

photo by: contributed

Max Whittaker delivers the donations for those experiencing homelessness to the city-supported campsite in North Lawrence.

As Whittaker was working to unload the donations, he said one of the people living at the campsite came over to offer him a hand with all the bags. And in the end, Whittaker took something away from the project as well.

“I learned that even though someone who is experiencing homelessness has an assortment of troubles from their day-to-day life that are very much different from mine or someone else’s, being willing to help is just so important and necessary,” Whittaker said. “… It just takes a new perspective on compassion.”

In addition to donations that Whittaker and others in Troop 59 collected from the community at large, donations were collected from three churches: First Southern Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church and Cornerstone Community Church. Whittaker said the donations he and others in Troop 59 were able to collect filled a small room, and it really made him proud of Lawrence and all involved.

“There is so much beauty in it, being able to help someone,” he said. “And it really makes me proud of the project and the people of Lawrence that donated and the scouts that helped out. It’s something I can be proud of, but it’s also something that collectively, people can be proud of.”

The City of Lawrence accepts ongoing donations at the campsite in North Lawrence, including donations of packaged food, personal hygiene products and paper products, such as toilet paper and paper towels. Items can be delivered to the donations tent or handed to on-site staff at the campsite, which can be accessed via Locust Street (behind Johnny’s Tavern).

photo by: contributed

Max Whittaker and others in his Boy Scout Troop, Troop 59, helped gather various donations for those experiencing homelessness as part of Whittaker’s Eagle Scout project.