For Evesham resident and Cherokee High School senior Jake Lazarow, Scouting is in the family.
As a young man, Lazarow’s father Lewis achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and now leads BSA Troop №100 of Evesham. Following in his father’s footsteps, Lazarow has now achieved the rank of Eagle Scout as well.
It was for that reason on Sept. 19 friends, family and members of the community came together at the Marlton Fieldhouse for a Court of Honor ceremony where Lazarow and fellow Troop №100 member Evan Bradley received Scouting’s highest achievement.
Lazarow recalls joining Cub Scouts in first grade as a Tiger Cub and said becoming an Eagle was always an aspiration of his.
“It did get tough with sports, clubs and activities, and it got to the point where I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep going because of the stuff I was doing, but ultimately I made time for it because it was something I wanted to do,” Lazarow said.
To become an Eagle Scout, there are multiple requirements, just some of which include earning at least 21 merit badges, rising through all Boy Scout rankings, serving a leadership position within a troop and completing an Eagle Scout service project.
Eagle Scout service projects allow potential Eagle Scouts to demonstrate their leadership capabilities through performing a project for the benefit of the community.
Lazarow worked with the Evesham Township Police Department for his project to create and distribute flash drive safety bands that could be given to parents after having their children’s personal information electronically stored within.
On the drives is information such as photos and videos of the child, audio of the child speaking and an editable PDF with additional information such as hair color, identifying features, blood type and more.
In the event of a child going missing, a parent could then quickly, succinctly and accurately give the critical information to the police handling the situation.
“It all can be changed whenever the parent wants to, and it’s also password protected, so if it’s ever lost, nothing bad can happen to it because it’s locked up,” Lazarow said.
According to Lazarow, he raised about $1,600 through a Kickstarter fundraiser and helped create and distribute about 100 bands at multiple Evesham community police events in the last year.
About 200 leftover bands were then given to the Evesham Police to continue the program and keep distributing the bands at future events.
Now that the project is complete and his Court of Honor ceremony has passed, Lazarow describes a sense of relief and accomplishment at finally earning his Eagle.
“For it to work out and for the project to have such a positive impact, it’s definitely a great feeling to be able to put my name and project along all the other Scouts who did really great projects,” Lazarow said.
Lazarow, now 18, said he hopes to attend Pennsylvania State University as both his parents did, while double majoring in creative writing and recreation, park and tourism management.
Lazarow is also now an official assistant Scoutmaster with his troop, and said he hopes to continue being involved with Scouting throughout his life.
“Without Scouting, I would not be the leader I am today in the community and my group of friends,” Lazarow said. “I’ve learned how to lead and be a better person. If you sit in the back and don’t really talk, nothing ever gets done.”
