Colorful badges and emblems covered the uniform of local Boy Scout Adam Bryant, signifying all the honors he’s received through community service and other activities. He’s amassed many over the last few years, but there’s one left to attain he said, the highest, that of Eagle Scout.

And to help him earn it, he has plans to help local senior citizens through his projct — Soups for Seniors.

Soups for Seniors is a project meant to help needy senior citizens in Sampson County who often must choose between food and medication because they live on a fixed income, Bryant explained.

The Midway High School freshmen said he joined Boy Scouts as a Tiger in first grade because he “thought it would be fun.” Bryant started with Pack 41 and moved up to Troop 41 chartered by Hickory Grove Baptist Church. His years in Boy Scouts culminates to this project which will earn him the honor of Eagle Scout.

The idea for this project came from his mentor, Lesia Henderson, of the Sampson County Dept. of Aging. Bryant has worked with Henderson by adopting a grandparent and providing food and Christmas presents for local grandparents and grandchildren every year. The expressions Bryant saw on the faces of those he delivered food and presents to stuck with him, he said, sparking the idea for his latest project.

It is one that is close to his heart.

“The senior citizens have a rough time. Some get help but most don’t. Volunteering with Mrs. Lesia, I saw how rough their life can be and what their houses look like,” Bryant stated.

Most Eagle Scout projects take place in three weeks, Bryant noted, but his is going on for six months. The Eagle board tried to talk Bryant out of doing the project for such an extended period of time, his mother noted, but Bryant’s response was, “No, it’s a need. There’s a need there.”

His project was approved by the Eagle board in February of this year and Bryant began his collection on June 9. Until Christmas, Bryant will continue collecting soups and other canned goods for the project. The Boy Scout’s goal is to collect 350 cans so that he can fix a package of seven cans to deliver to 50 individual seniors citizens.

Bryant’s overall goal for the project is that other people will continue carrying out the cause to meet the needs he sees in the community.

Bryant spent some time at the Garland Senior Center recently, dropping off food and visiting with the senior citizens. He also participated in a community fair hosted by the Dept. of Social Services and speaks about his project the first Tuesday of every month on WCLN radio.

Bryant has also promoted the project through some local businesses which have allowed him to place collection boxes inside. Currently boxes are located at The Sampson Independent, WCLN, Clinton Drug Company, GO Toyota, the Dept. of Social Services, Garland Senior Center, Elizabeth Baptist Church and the Dept. of Aging.

In spite of Bryant’s efforts with this cause, his mother Sheila Bryant said that as they have gone through the community to check the boxes, there has been nothing given. “People do not understand the magnitude of the need,” she commented. She expressed her hope that more people would become aware of this need and donate to this project.

To donate soup or other canned goods to the Soup for Seniors project, contact Lesia Henderson at the Sampson County Dept. of Aging by calling 910-592-4653.

To contact Amy Kelly call 592-8137 ext. 119 or send e-mail to sigov@myclintonnc.com.