Jennings Earns Eagle Scout Honor

Newest Eagle Scout David Jennings, with the help from friends, scouts, and family, recently built two 6’ X 2’ wheelchair accessible flower planters made from composite material and pressure treated legs. 

These planters were built high enough so that senior citizens in wheelchairs could sit at them and plant.  After finishing the construction of these planters, all the materials were brought by truck (soil, rocks, gloves, aprons, shovels, buckets, flowers) which were donated by Container Manufacturing, to Brighton Gardens in Mountainside.  Brighton Gardens is a senior citizen facility on Route 22.

On the day of the actual planting class, David held an informative session with the seniors to explain the lifecycles of plants and then moved the group of twelve seniors outside for the actual planting class. With David’s leadership, girl and boy scouts, friends from home and school and family members helped to buddy up one-on-one with a senior to help fill the planters with stone and soil, and plant bulbs, daisies and vincas.

The weather was beautiful and all the volunteers and seniors were able to do the entire class outside on Brighton Gardens back patio.  The seniors had an excellent time, reminiscing about the gardens they used to have and everyone had made new friends with each other before the day was done. 

The planters were left at Brighton Gardens with watering cans so the seniors could go outside to care for and see the beautiful flowers grow every day. 

David, a senior who attends The Academy for Allied Health Sciences in Scotch Plains, is now an Eagle Scout with Troop 177 in Mountainside where they hold their weekly meetings at the Community Presbyterian Church. 

David joins an elite group of scouts where only 2% of the scouts hold this distinction.