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Norton Shores
Hero Story
When Mason Schlafer joined the scouts, he began selling popcorn along with his peers. In 2015, he set a goal to sell enough popcorn to win a tablet off that year’s prize sheet. What happened from there was much, much bigger than just winning a tablet. Inspired by the success of his sales that year and seeing how the funds raised impacted his troop and the surrounding community, he decided to go for number one. And he was successful. For five out of the last six years, Mason has been the top Scout popcorn fundraiser in the nation (and was second in the nation in the only year he wasn’t first). While that alone is impressive, what he has decided to do with those funds raised is truly inspiring. In 2018, Mason used some of the funds to organize his first Feeding America food truck at St. Gregory’s Church in Norton Shores. By the end of 2023, Mason will have organized his 33rd mobile food truck. The organization of each truck requires Mason to handle scheduling and location, recruit volunteers, register participants, and handle the food distribution. Each truck requires between 25-30 volunteers and serves roughly 550 individuals from the community. Mason says the feeling he gets from giving back is “immeasurable.” Mason’s actions have inspired other scouts and troops to utilize their fundraising in similar ways, either through organizing their own food trucks within their communities or finding similar service projects. After seeing Mason on the news, a scout in Whitehall, MI was inspired to start his own service project in area hospitals. In addition to funding community food trucks with money raised from the popcorn sales, Mason also uses the funds to upgrade equipment for his troop (such as tents for camp and ten years’ worth of new trophies for the pinewood derby) and sponsor fellow scouts so they can fully participate in BSA trips and activities. For Mason’s Eagle Scout project, he built five benches for a local veterans’ museum in Muskegon. Mason lives by the motto “Do a good turn daily,” and he believes small daily acts of positive impact make a larger difference in community and world. He has a generosity of spirit that is infectious to those around him.
Norton Shores
Hero Story
When Mason Schlafer joined the scouts, he began selling popcorn along with his peers. In 2015, he set a goal to sell enough popcorn to win a tablet off that year’s prize sheet. What happened from there was much, much bigger than just winning a tablet. Inspired by the success of his sales that year and seeing how the funds raised impacted his troop and the surrounding community, he decided to go for number one. And he was successful. For five out of the last six years, Mason has been the top Scout popcorn fundraiser in the nation (and was second in the nation in the only year he wasn’t first). While that alone is impressive, what he has decided to do with those funds raised is truly inspiring. In 2018, Mason used some of the funds to organize his first Feeding America food truck at St. Gregory’s Church in Norton Shores. By the end of 2023, Mason will have organized his 33rd mobile food truck. The organization of each truck requires Mason to handle scheduling and location, recruit volunteers, register participants, and handle the food distribution. Each truck requires between 25-30 volunteers and serves roughly 550 individuals from the community. Mason says the feeling he gets from giving back is “immeasurable.” Mason’s actions have inspired other scouts and troops to utilize their fundraising in similar ways, either through organizing their own food trucks within their communities or finding similar service projects. After seeing Mason on the news, a scout in Whitehall, MI was inspired to start his own service project in area hospitals. In addition to funding community food trucks with money raised from the popcorn sales, Mason also uses the funds to upgrade equipment for his troop (such as tents for camp and ten years’ worth of new trophies for the pinewood derby) and sponsor fellow scouts so they can fully participate in BSA trips and activities. For Mason’s Eagle Scout project, he built five benches for a local veterans’ museum in Muskegon. Mason lives by the motto “Do a good turn daily,” and he believes small daily acts of positive impact make a larger difference in community and world. He has a generosity of spirit that is infectious to those around him.