From Dover to Honduras

DOVER — Jacob Boufford has been a Boy Scout since he was 6 years old and entering the first grade. He is now 15 and is a sophomore at Dover High School. He has spent the last nine years earning belt loops, merit badges, patches and ranks. He has now become an Eagle Scout.

Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is to decide on a project that will benefit and help others. Jacob knew exactly what he wanted to do for his project when the time came.

Back in April of 2016, Jacob visited Roatan, Honduras. He had the privilege of meeting many of the locals and experiencing what life was like there. Jacob could see the beauty in the country but also observed how poor it was as well. His experience in Honduras was eye-opening. “As beautiful as the country is, I did not realize how hard life could be in comparison to what we have in the states.” Jacob said to his mom and dad.

Three months later after visiting Honduras, Jacob was attending mass in Henniker with his family where a missionary from Honduras was speaking. His name was Father St. Laurent. Ironically, Father St.Laurent grew up in Somersworth and was a priest in Dover as well for some time. He explained to the parish that he was part of a non-profit organization called Project Eden. Jacob had the opportunity to speak with Father St. Laurent and learn more about the organization. Jacob came into contact with two local Project Eden missionaries named Scott and Mary Fitzpatrick. They would help lead the way for Jacob’s Eagle Scout project by helping him understand what the needs are in Honduras.

The Fitzpatricks put Jacob in touch with Mario Ramos, a liaison for Project Eden in Honduras who worked directly with the children in the San Francisco De la Paz area. Mario worked with Jacob through emails and expressed the needs for the school children. Jacob decided his Eagle Scout project would be to fill 100 school bags with all the school supplies a child would need for a successful school year.

Over the next five months starting in November of 2017, Jacob created fliers and online wish lists and contacted local businesses, friends and family for donations. It did not take long for the community to step forward and help Jacob fill the 100 bags. Companies like Sweet Grass Farms in Greenland donated 100 bars of soaps, JD Howard Dental donated tooth brushes, tooth paste and floss for the 100 kids, and United Parcel Service in Dover donated shipping the school supplies. Finally, friends and family donated the rest of the supplies above and beyond. After collecting all donations, Jacob was able to give each child five pens, five pencils, five erasers, a pencil sharpener, scissors, pads of paper, coloring books, rulers, markers, stickers, crayons, highlighters and glue sticks. He sent additional supplies to the teachers as well.

Brett Sandquist, the center manager for the United Parcel Service in Dover, generously provided the shipping of the 100 school bags from New Hampshire to Miami. From Miami to Honduras, Jacob worked with the company Rapido Cargo. Within three weeks from shipping from New Hampshire to Honduras, the supplies were delivered to Mario. Mario disbursed the 100 bags to the children in need. Mario sent an email to Jacob saying, “Today I was in one of the schools located up in the mountain and there were two students who bought a pen before getting the school bag and they said ‘I won’t buy anymore pens this year because here in my new school bag I have enough for the year!’”

That was so sweet to hear it from them.” Mario said.

Mario has been keeping in touch with Jacob through emails and pictures. Jacob said, “It is a wonderful feeling to see my project come full circle and to see all their smiling faces and to know I have made a difference in a child’s education!”