Local Scout Earns Prestigious Eagle Rank

METHACTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT ACHIEVES AMBITIOUS GOAL OF MAKING EAGLE SCOUT RANK -

In 2012, more than 14,000 volunteers, individually or with neighbors and friends, or as part of school groups, faith-based organizations and corporate teams, spent a morning or afternoon at Cradles to Crayons’ warehouse in West Conshohocken sorting, inspecting, cleaning, and preparing thousands of donated items earmarked for area children living in poverty.

“Each and every one a ‘good citizen,’ said the Montgomery County-based nonprofit’s executive director, Michal Smith, “each playing a part in making a difference in her or his community.”

Jeffrey Titanich, senior at Methacton High School, certainly fills the bill.

He’s been in scouting since first grade – he is a member of Boy Scout Troop 313 in Audubon, Pa. – and as far back as Jeffrey could recall, he’s wanted to achieve the ambitious goal of making Eagle Scout rank, the highest advancement level in Boy Scouting, and a title that he would hold for life.

Easier said than done. In the last 100 years, only about five percent of all Boy Scouts have earned Eagle Scout rank. In addition to progressing through a series of ranks – beginning as a Tenderfoot, a prospective Eagle Scout must earn more than 20 merit badges, serve six months in a troop leadership position, and plan, develop, and give leadership to a service project for any religious organization or any school or community.

Of course, all while keeping up his senior-year schoolwork and being a member of the Methacton boys’ tennis team and the school’s Ultimate Frisbee team.

And doing this while meeting the state-mandated requirement that all high school students must engage and complete a project prior to graduation in order to receive a diploma.

For Jeffrey, the service project had to be special – it was meeting both Boy Scout and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requirements – and be “something that would have a direct impact on the community,” he said. He found just that at Cradles to Crayons. He was familiar with the organization; his mother, Linda, had been volunteering there along with co-workers from Vanguard.

Jeffrey spearheaded a Warehouse-in-a Box event, a scaled-down version of Cradles to Crayons’ warehouse that enables volunteers to perform the same steps – such as sorting, inspecting, and cleaning items brought to the special site – as those taken in the 16,500-square-foot warehouse in preparation for the donated products’ distribution to children across the region.

To make it all happen, Jeffrey – 

• Arranged to use the gym at Green Tree Church in Oaks.
• Sent letters to all families in his Boy Scout troop, requesting product donations and volunteers.
• Had his parents distribute a flyer to their co-workers.
• Collected donations from more than 40 people, raising more than $600.00, which he used to buy new socks and underwear for distribution to area children, birth through 12, living in poverty conditions, who are served by Cradles to Crayons.
• Received donations of supplies needed for the event from Home Depot and Lowe’s.
• Led a group of 20 volunteers, including 15 Boy Scouts and his family.
• And drove the more than 100 bags and boxes of sorted products to Cradles to Crayons’ West Conshohocken site.

To no one’s surprise, the mission was accomplished without a hitch.

Jeff Baxter, Cradles to Crayons’ outreach manager, called the collection “one of the best Warehouse-in-a-Box events ever! Especially impressive,” added Baxter, “was how well organized it was, a reflection of the planning, preparation, and leadership exhibited by Jeff Titanich.”

And also, to the surprise of no one who knows Jeffrey, he recently achieved the Boy Scouts of America's highest rank – Eagle Scout rank.

(photo caption)

Jeffrey Titanich – then a new Eagle Scout to-be – with members of his Boy Scout troop, #313 in Audubon, Pa., who, along with his family (that’s his grandmother, Fay Gregg, at the back) helped sort and pack 100 bags and boxes of donations from the local community at a Cradles to Crayons’ Warehouse-in-a-Box event held at Green Tree Church in Oaks.