When it came time to choose an Eagle Scout Service Project, 16-year-old Jay Simpson of Rock Hill wanted to find a way to support the York County Library, where he had actively served on the Teen Advisory Board. He decided to collect good-condition, gently-used books, CDs, and DVDs to donate to the Friends of the Library.Jay, a member of Westminster Scout Troop 205, began by e-mailing his fellow scouts, asking them to contact friends, relatives, and neighbors for donations. He also distributed fliers throughout his neighborhood and at several businesses. The donations soon began coming in -- at his Scout meetings and his home -- from neighbors and from businesses that put out drop-off boxes for their customers.
By the end of the project, Jay had managed to collect an impressive 58 boxes of books and other materials for the library. His donations will be added to the York County Library's collection and to the Friends of the Library book sales, which help provide funding for non-budgeted library projects, programs and other needs. The project taught Jay a valuable lesson -- if you just ask, many people are willing to give what they can to benefit and help others.
Jay starting scouting in the second grade as a cub scout and is now a junior at Gaston Day School in Gastonia, N.C., where he also runs track. He plans to attend college and study business and finance, and he enjoys golf, tennis, ultimate frisbee, traveling, and vacationing at Sunset Beach, N.C.
Jay would like to thank a number of his fellow scouts and others who helped make his service project possible: Scoutmaster Bill White; fellow scouts Jonathan Harwell, Pierce Jennings, Kaleb and Landon Leaphart, Logan and Nick Lillibridge, Jonathan Setzer, and parent Todd Lillibridge; Ruth Whitman of First Citizens Bank; and his neighbors in Fairlawn.
The York County Library welcomes donations of gently-used books and other media such as DVDs and audiobooks. Items are accepted at any York County Library location and are tax deductible. For details, visit www.yclibrary.org.
