photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Free State senior Anton Funke works on building a compost system for Just Food, 1000 E. 11th St., as part of his Eagle Scout project on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.

Anton Funke, Isaac Mosier and Jonah Domnick have been friends and scouting together since Cub Scouts in elementary school, so when it came to start their Eagle Scout projects, working together was a natural fit.

Part of Troop 53, they were gathered at Just Food on Sunday afternoon working on Funke’s project: building a compost system for the organization.

“I was thinking about projects that need to be done in the community, and I heard that Just Food was expanding their garden, so I came over and asked them if they needed anything specific,” Funke, a senior at Free State High School, said.

He’s building a three-tier compost system for the organization, which supplies fresh produce, dairy products, meat, bread and pantry staples to partner agencies and operates a food pantry that serves hundreds of people a day Tuesday through Friday, according to its website.

“I went online and searched like the best three-tier system I could find, found it and then took some of the design and put my own add-ons to it,” Funke said. When it’s complete, the system will have three bins. The first one will get untouched items that need composting. Once its volume has reduced by half, the contents move to the second bin, and when that reduces by half, it goes to the third bin and is ready to use, Funke said.

Funke’s friends weren’t the only ones helping. He received donations from McCray Lumber, Cottin’s Hardware, Ace Hardware and Home Depot to help with the project.

“Oh, and a random gentleman at Home Depot gave me $5,” Funke said with a smile.

Mosier and Domnick are also working on Eagle Scout projects. Mosier is building a shelving system for a local church, and Domnick is working at building garden beds at Prairie Park Nature Center.

Whether compost systems or garden beds, the outside work is something that appeals to Funke — and certainly was one of the draws to scouting.

“(It) teaches you how to be outdoors, which is also something magnificent and not a lot of people nowadays enjoy,” Funke said.

But scouting — particularly ascending to the rank of Eagle Scout — comes with other benefits.

“Being an Eagle Scout seems to be a very prestigious thing,” Funke said, adding that it should be a boon to college applications — he wants to go to pharmacy school when he’s done at Free State — and job resumes. But the benefits go beyond polishing up his credentials.

“It teaches me very valuable skills like how to work with other people, how to plan stuff and do stuff myself, not having as much adult guidance — something that I find very important.”

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Anton Funke, right, oversees Jonah Domnick, Center, and Isaac Mosier, right, during construction of a three-tier compost system at Just Food, 1000 E. 11th Street, on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. The system is part of Funke’s Eagle Scout project.

photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Jonah Domnick, from left, Anton Funke, and Isaac Mosier have been scouting together since Cub Scouts and now are helping each other with their Eagle Scout projects.