Eagle Scout Service Project Benefits Westwood Food Pantry Clients

The Westwood Food Pantry* has a new walkway and bench for its clients, thanks to George Resker’s Eagle Scout project. A member of Scouting BSA’s Troop 1 in Islington since he was a fifth-grader, Resker “chose to focus on this project because I had asked Lina [Arena-DeRosa] (my beneficiary) what she wanted me to do for the project and she said she wanted a bench and a few bird houses. So I built that as well as a path for the bench.” Arena-DeRosa is the Director of Westwood’s Council on Aging, where the Westwood Food Pantry is located.

“I chose to pursue the path of Eagle because I wanted to get the highest achievement and get the recognition that I was an Eagle Scout,” explains Resker. His older brother, Henry Resker, became an Eagle Scout in 2019. “[Henry’s involvement] affected my decision to become a Boy Scout because I saw what it had done for him and wanted to live up to that,” Resker says.

A senior at Westwood High School, Resker enjoys fishing when not at school or being involved with Scouting. Resker wishes to thank Troop 1, his father, and Arena-DeRosa for their support of his Eagle Scout project. “I recommend anyone considering joining Boy Scouts goes ahead and becomes an Eagle Scout for the experience,” he advises.

*Members of my household have volunteered at the Westwood Food Pantry for over twenty years. This fact did not affect me covering the story.