Iowa Boy Scout Toby Laurie has always had a deep respect for U.S. veterans – so he decided to put an idea into action and make a difference for his Eagle Scout project.
Toby, 15, is with the Boy Scouts’ Norwalk Troop 30 in Norwalk, Iowa, and he became an Eagle Scout on Dec. 19, 2017.
His Eagle project was a veteran’s memorial with 67 names on it at St Patrick’s Cemetery in Cumming, Iowa.
Toby raised $7000 for the project, which he did by collecting donations from local organizations totaling $1,250; he collected the rest from cans and bottle donations from community members, his parents, John and Jessica, told American Military News.
His project took more than 275 hours to complete, but Toby wasn’t quite done after that.
He continued to collect cans and bottles to help families who had a veteran pass away, to put their name on the memorial, too.
To date, Toby has raised enough money to add five more names to the memorial, which was an additional $750.
Toby’s inspiration came from his grandpa, who served in World War II and is buried at St. Patrick’s Cemetery.
Toby took notice that there was nothing out there honoring the veterans.
Toby decided that had to change, so he decided that when he joined the Boy Scouts, he would construct a memorial for his Eagle Scout project.
Toby would eventually like to put more memorials at other cemeteries around Iowa where they don’t have something honoring the veterans.
Toby has always had a lot of respect for veterans and plans to join the military when he graduates from high school, his parents said.
