Teen's Eagle Scout Project Benefits Neighbor to Neighbor

Greenwich Boy Scout Matthew Hall has completed the final phase of his Eagle Scout project at Neighbor to Neighbor, Greenwich’s food pantry and clothing room.

Matthew, 14, and a crew of 17 volunteers gathered Jan. 12 at Neighbor-to-Neighbor to install custom made shelving and help organize the food and clothing storage unit. Boy Scouts from Troop 10 in Cos Cob got busy with screw guns to complete the final assembly and installation of 80 feet of shelving space.

Neighbor-to-Neighbor, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving residents in need throughout the Greenwich area, helps provide food, clothing and basic living essentials in an atmosphere of kindness and respect. Matthew’s project will help keep the storage unit organized and provide additional space for food and clothing storage, according Nancy Coughlin, Neighbor to Neighbor's executive director.

Matthew is no stranger to Neighbor-to-Neighbor. Throughout his Boy Scout career, he logged many volunteer hours in the food pantry. Matthew saw first-hand how clients come in the food pantry and clothing room and are so appreciative for the helping hand. As Matthew considered possibilities for his Eagle Scout project, the highest rank awarded by the Boy Scouts of America, he wanted to build something that would help make Neighbor-to-Neighbor more efficient in their operations. 

Working closely with Neighbor-to-Neighbor’s Executive Director, Nancy Coughlin, and Food Pantry and Stock Coordinator, Guy Petiford, Matthew’s project was chartered as building a shelving unit in the storage pod.  Matthew created a computer drawing with scaled dimensions for approval. 

With approved drawings, Matthew enlisted the help of this father’s company to machine the parts needed for the project. Hall’s Edge Inc. in Stamford, CT specializes in cabinet part machining and architectural millwork for the professional cabinet maker.  Matthew and another scout received training on how to operate Hall’s Edge CNC router (computer numeric control) and edgebander to manufacturer the parts. Using all reclaimed scraps of material 160 parts were soon ready for the assembly crew. Six more scouts were recruited for the assembly phase to glue and screw the 32 boxes together.

Including planning, organizing and building, Matthew spent more than 40 hours on this Eagle project. His 20 volunteers logged an additional 107 hours.  Matthew Hall is hoping to achieve his Eagle rank in June.