Kansas Wesleyan University first-year student Katherine “Kat” White has a heart for service. A Communications major, she recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout in Scouting America, the first female in the Triconda District to do so.
To earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest ranking possible in Scouting, one must earn 21 merit badges, demonstrate the Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law, serve actively in a troop for six months, and plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, school or community.
For White, figuring out her project was easy.
A member of University United Methodist Church, just across the street from the KWU campus, White built a new Blessings Box that holds food for those in need in the community. Previous iterations of the box and moving it to several locations had caused it to deteriorate.
“I asked the church if I could rebuild it for my project, and the mother of the former pastor had just died the year before, and she really liked having the Blessing Box, so I made it in memory of her,” White said.
White’s box is accessible by car in the church parking lot on Claflin Street. Patrons can both donate to and take from the box.
Originally from Arizona, White and her family moved to Kansas while she was in high school.
“I was in Girl Scouts from kindergarten all the way up to sophomore year of high school,” White said. “When I moved to Kansas, it wasn’t the same organization that I had grown up with.”
Her father, Kevin, who had also earned the rank of Eagle Scout, urged her to join the local Scouting troop.
“I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and I’ve been in it ever since,” White said. “It (becoming an Eagle Scout) means a lot to me, because only 8 percent of the millions that are in Scouting America become Eagle Scouts, and even a smaller amount, only about 3 percent of girls, become Eagle Scouts. It means a lot to be a pioneer of girls in Scouting.”
Though just a first-year, White is working her way toward a career either in Scouting America or in government service. She currently works with Scouting America through the YMCA in the Salina area, going to elementary schools and working in their after-school programs.
Story by Dan Froehlich
Photo by Jean Kozubowski
