Oceanport Eagle Scout Honored by Mayor and Council

On paper, it would seem that Oceanport teen Clark Halpern has been pretty busy.

Halpern, who was honored by the borough's mayor and council at the May 3 meeting, recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout after 12 years of scouting.

His Eagle Scout Project was the organization of a toy drive to
benefit children suffering from cancer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
(CHOP). Halpern and his volunteers distributed leaflets to all the residents in Oceanport specifying what items were needed and describing childhood cancer and its connection to CHOP and the Kourtney Rose Foundation. Halpern collected over 1,125 new toys to benefit the children at CHOP and arranged transportation of the toys for delivery to CHOP on September 24th, 2011.

According to the proclamation in Halpern's honor, the scout has received a number of special awards and achievements including the 2005 Arrow of Light; camping over 100 nights; he attended five summer camps; earned the Polar Bear Award four years as well as the Ordeal Member of the Order of the Arrow and he completed more than 176 hours of community service.

Halpern was joined by his mom, Daphne, and dad, Bart, at Thursday's meeting.