By Kaitlin Motley
Review Staff Intern
Ian Prochaska says there’s a statistic stating that less than two-percent of people who join Boy Scouts reach the rank of Eagle Scout.
A scout proves his worthiness of the rank, which is the highest he can achieve, by completing the Eagle Scout leadership service project. So when Ian and twin brother Zach started planning their projects, they went a step beyond reaching out to the local level and took it overseas.
Both Prochaska brothers decided on service projects benefiting men and women in the military, those deployed as well as the injured and recovering.
Zach is collecting new or used DVDs, music CDs, and small hand-held electronic games as well as microwave popcorn. The items will be sent to the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) areas for units in Iraq, a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, and the Wounded Warrior Barracks in North Carolina. His goal is to collect 500 items.
‘Many troops that have received packages overseas send letters back telling how what they received improved their morale,? said Zach, whose family has a history of military service. ‘Troops overseas are comforted when they know that people at home have not forgotten about them.?
Ian is collecting paperback books and magazines in good condition to send to the John D. Dingell VA Hospital library in Detroit. The library needs mysteries, westerns, and Tom Clancy-type books as reading material for veterans recovering at the hospital. Ian hopes to collect between 750 and 1,000 items.
The brothers set up dropoff boxes at the following locations: American Legion, 130 E. Drahner Road; UAW Local 5960 Lake Orion, 180 E. Silverbell Road; Kroger, 3097 S. Baldwin Road; CJ’s Village Caf?, 21 W. Flint Street; and Baldwin Caf?, 3010 S. Baldwin.
They will also accept monetary donations to help pay for postage. Checks can be made payable to Troop 284 and mailed to Zach Prochaska Eagle Project, 4240 Dabish Dr. Lake Orion, MI 48362. The deadline for donating is Aug. 15.
‘When we were looking at doing something for the Eagle Scout project it came to the forefront of our minds, trying to give something back to the people who gave a lot for us,? Ian said.
‘We are a community because we are free people,? Zach added. ‘We are free people because these troops fight for our freedom every day.?