Transformed School Bus Into Mobile Food Pantry

Jackson and his helpers converted an old school bus into a mobile food pantry to help distribute food to the community.

While volunteering with the Messengers of Hope Mission, Jackson noticed a need. The Florida-based food pantry would ask its volunteers to load up canned goods and frozen food, and drive it all to a parking lot for low-income families and those experiencing homelessness to pick up.

“Since they used the volunteers’ personal cars,” the 17-year-old says. “they were limited; they couldn’t get enough food out to the people who needed it the most.”

The food pantry wanted a bus to transport the food, but that wish had stayed just that: a wish. Until Jackson decided to devote his Eagle Scout project to making it a reality.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his project got delayed, but after two years of working on it and raising $16,000, he transformed an old school bus into a mobile food pantry.

“It’s been able to serve thousands of people so far,” Jackson says. “Because of Scouting and my dream, there were people in my community that were able to be helped.”

For his exceptional efforts, Jackson, a member of Troop 77 in New Port Richey, Fla., received the 2023 Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award.

— Jackson, Troop 77, New Port Richey, Fla.

Read more about his project on the Scouting magazine blog.