Ben Evans, a 16-year-old Brandon High School junior, has attained the rank of Eagle Scout, among the highest honors in Boy Scouts.
Ben, a member of Boy Scout Troop 199 in Clarkston, began scouting in first grade as a member of Cub Scout Pack 135 in Ortonville. While a Cub Scout, he earned all 20 Webelos activity pins and earned the highest award in Cub Scouts, the Arrow of Light.
As a Boy Scout, Ben has earned 42 merit badges to date, including the 12 required for the rank of Eagle. He has served as assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader, troop guide, and currently serves as junior assistant scoutmaster. He is also an Order of the Arrow member.
For his Eagle project, Ben planned, organized and controlled the creation of a specialized inventory database of nearly 5,000 donated items, including toys, books, clothing, sporting goods, electronics, and bicycles for the Ennis Center for Children, a non-profit organization licensed for child placement by the state of Michigan. The organization assists more than 2,500 children, youth and their families. Services include foster care, adoption, family preservation, delinquency, and dealing with mental health issues. The inventory database created by Ben and his team allows the Ennis Center to better serve local communities by allowing them to target specific age/gender groups for donations, specify (in future solicitations) items of need from local area agencies, and initiate their own quarterly in-house inventory which identifies what items are in need and reveal where aid is going. Ben and his team spent nearly 250 hours to complete his Eagle project.
Ben is the son of Stan and Judy Evans of Groveland Township and the brother of Brian, also active in scouting.