Messengers of Peace Distinguished Project Award recognizes outstanding Scouting service to Local Communities
[January 18, 2024] – The BSA International Committee is pleased to announce that Daniel Thomas (Eagle Scout, Troop 1905, Longhorn Council) and Mason Schlafer (Eagle Scout, Troop 1053, Michigan Crossroads Council) were chosen to receive the new Messengers of Peace Distinguished Project Award. The award recognizes outstanding service by individuals who have made contributions within their respective communities towards the promotion of peace. Through their work in Scouting, which aligned with one (or more) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they have acted locally to effect global change.
International Commissioner Lou Paulson stated: “these Scouts have done truly remarkable projects that exemplify and are outstanding examples of all aspects of the Messengers of Peace Program.”
Daniel Thomas (Troop 1905 – Longhorn Council) – SDGs #6 Clean Water & Sanitation, #14 Life Below Water,
#15 Life on Land, and #17 Partnership for the Goals
Daniel Thomas was selected for the award for his work on the LitterScout project. The LitterScout project is a local conservation group that Daniel founded in 2019, as a 5th grader, with the goal of inspiring, organizing, and engaging youth to be educated about litter and its impact on waterways. Through research, Daniel determined that 75% of the waste in his local Dallas-Fort Worth community waterways is generated from land-based litter. To help address this issue, Daniel began organizing monthly litter clean-ups in three cities (Euless, Grapevine, & Colleyville) with the help of friends, school organizations, and local scouting units. Daniel cooperated with the municipal governments of Euless, Grapevine and Colleyville to conduct his project efforts. This project has run continuously for over three and a half years and involved over 75,000 collectives hours of service.
The LitterScout project also features monthly blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos. Pursuing his passion to inspire, Daniel wrote and published a children’s book titled, “Sustainable Living: Environmental Tips for Kids”. He also created a phone app called “LitterScout” which decentralizes litter clean-ups by crowdsourcing litter hot spots. Using GPS and photos, it enables individuals and groups to participate in litter reporting and clean-ups. The educational material he created, as well as the LitterScout App, can be found at LitterScout.com.
Additionally, Daniel was awarded the 2023 Texas Environmental Excellence Award by the Texas Governor’s office, the state’s highest environmental conservation award for leading community members in conservation projects & educational outreach. Congratulations Daniel on inspiring peace through environmental action in your local community!
Mason Schlafer (Troop 1053 – Michigan Crossroads Council) – SDGs #1 No Poverty, #2 Zero Hunger, and #3
Good Health & Well-Being, and #17 Partnership for the Goals
Our second awardee is Mason Schlafer, who was selected for his Muskegon Mobile Food Pantry project. As a young scout, Mason was inspired to research food insecurity in his local community. He learned that 1 in 6 Muskegon children are suffering from hunger and that several non-profit food relief organizations were already hard at work tackling the problem and needed more help. Despite having more than enough food to feed everyone on Earth, over 800 million people still unfortunately end up going hungry every day. Issues such as natural disasters, poverty and homelessness, unsafe water and sanitation, and government conflict can all contribute to putting the hungry in even more dire straits.
Mason decided to take action and partnered with Feeding America, Muskegon County Cooperating Churches, and St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church to expand their mobile food truck operations. The mobile food trucks operate to bring the food to the people. Families are able to sign up to receive food monthly. One food package is able to feed a family for about one week. The pantry operates like a drive-thru, in which people can drive (or walk) in and pick up their package of food. A single pantry can feed between 150-200 families at each stop.
Mason’s project has contributed over 2,200 hours of direct community service to end hunger over 33 events since 2018 and continues still. What makes Mason’s project even more outstanding is that he has used the proceeds from his title as BSA’s top popcorn seller for six years to fund his Mobile Food Pantry project with Feeding America of West Michigan. He has sold more than $400,000 of popcorn to help feed an estimated 10,000 people with around 150,000 pounds of food. His message of peace has inspired several scouting units from outside the area to come and join the effort as he expands the mobile food pantry and plans for its sustained operation. Congratulations Mason for making a lasting impact on ending hunger in your local community!
Daniel and Mason are both dedicated and passionate Scouts who are committed to making a difference in their community, exemplify what it means to be a Messenger of Peace, and embody the Scout Oath and Law in their work. They are role models for others, and their work is an inspiration to us all.
Messengers of Peace Distinguished Projects are chosen annually by the BSA International Committee’s
Messengers of Peace (MoP) committee. The award is open to registered Scouts who have made significant contributions to the promotion of peace and have met the requirements laid out in the MoP Program Guide. Scouts may be nominated for this award by any registered Scout Leader and must be approved by their Council International Representative and Scout Executive. The deadline for 2024 award nominations is October 31, 2024.
