On July 29, Nathan Jense, a 13-year-old Falcon resident and a Boy Scout with Troop 553, supervised a team of 17 people as they built cots for the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. For more than two hours, the group constructed 16 cots using PVC pipe and Sunbrella fabric.The project was part of Jenseís requirement to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. ìI like dogs, and I was browsing on the Internet for projects; and I saw one for dog cots,î he said. ìThe project had to be done for a specific place, like for the community or for a nonprofit group, and I chose the Humane Society because they are a good, legitimate place.îJense, who is home-schooled, said it took about four to five months of planning, getting approval for the project and raising money to purchase the necessary supplies. He has had his own dog poop-scooping business for about 18 months, and said once he chose his project, he spent about one week working specifically to raise money for the supplies.ìThe hardest part was the fundraising,î Jense said. He reached out to the Falcon Thrifty Facebook community to help raise the money, which he used to purchase the supplies at The Home Depot and Loweís, the latter allowed Jense to grab whatever he needed at no charge, he said.ìThe Little Caesarís store in Falcon gave me five pizzas to provide lunch for the volunteers on the day of the project,î Jense said. ìThe Falcon Walmart gave me a $25 gift certificate, which I used to buy plates and utensils.îIn total, Jense said he received about $400 in materials and cash donations.Because the project designer must show leadership skills, Jense said he did not work much on the cots; instead, he supervised the volunteers. Considering Jense fell off his skateboard two weeks before the project and broke his arm, he said it worked out well.Once he completes the other requirements for the Eagle Scout rank, Jense said he will make a presentation and give a report to the Eagle board for review.ìMy favorite part of the project was the project day,î Jense said. ìAlso, I learned that I really love dogs.î
| From the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region: |
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| Gretchen Pressley, communications specialist with the HSPPR, said, “The Humane Society would like to give a big thank you to Nathan for thinking of us and doing his Eagle Scout project with us. We are always so happy to see our young people getting involved in the community, especially for thinking about making the homeless pets here at the Humane Society more comfortable.” |
