M.K. Eagle Scout Project

Mitch’s project was one near and dear to his heart. He wanted to help those who cared for him as an orphan. The project was to collect supplies for the APIF Orphanage in Guatemala where he lived as a young child. The APIF Orphanage was opening a Daycare for unwed mothers and needed children’s school supplies; paper, pencils, markers, glue, etc. Mitch appealed to the St. Francis Parish and School in January for donations after Mass and during their Catholic Schools Week assembly. Response was overwhelming. Mitch collected 600+ lbs of supplies and over $10,000. After allowing for transportation costs, the remaining funds were wired to the orphanage. Transportation was the main challenge for the project. US State Dept. warned travel to/through Mexico had become dangerous; land delivery had a 20% probability of success. Shipping costs greatly increased for air, land and sea as time passed. After several months of negotiating, FedEx agreed to air-transport the supplies but under a very short timeframe. Scouts quickly rallied, sorted, inventoried and packed 18 boxes full of supplies. Scouts with the help of Triplett Office Essentials shrink-wrapped the supplies on a pallet; then trucked them to the FedEx Air transport station in south Des Moines. The supplies arrived in Guatemala in mid August. Guatemala Customs detained the supplies for several weeks, releasing the shipment to APIF in early October. Mitch is very grateful to all who contributed to the project, benefitting the APIF Orphanage.

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