Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010

By John Few
Madison Magazine

A Madison Boy Scout trying to get his Eagle badge received a helping hand this week. Allen King, 13, has been collecting books to fill the media center at the city’s newest school, Mill Creek Elementary.

So far he has amassed over 4,000 books and about $4,200 in donations for hard back books.

On Monday, State Senator Tom Butler contributed to the campaign with a $1,000 donation to purchase new books.

Allen kicked off his project a month ago when he and other members of Boy Scout Troop 100 in Meridianville distributed over 2,000 flyers to 10 Madison neighborhoods. They returned a week later to pick up books residents left on their front porches for the scouts to collect.

Since then Allen and the rest of the troop collected change in front of Kroger’s and local Wal-Mart centers to help purchase hard back books. They have also “blitzed” the Madison area with 34 collection boxes at area stores.

Sixth grade volunteers from Heritage Elementary and Mill Creek helped Allen write and send approximately 300 letters to book companies requesting book donations, and local and state government leaders, and Madison businesses requesting monetary donations to purchase library bound hard back books

All of those efforts paid off bigger than Allen even dreamed.

“I can’t believe how many books and how much money people have donated. I never expected the project to be so big, but I am glad it is,” said Allen. “I was afraid that I wouldn’t collect very many books or enough money to make a difference. I think it will be neat to visit the school in 20 years and know that I helped the library get started.”

The idea for the project was born shortly after Mill Creek opened for the new school year. The school opened last fall and was built for 900 students.

“When a new public school is built in Alabama, funding is not provided for library books,” said Allen, who has a little brother in kindergarten there. “Mill Creek has a beautiful new library, but most of the shelves are empty. So, for my Eagle Scout project, I wanted to help stock the shelves.”

Besides benefitting the school, Allen’s mother, Mollie, said the experience has been a great learning opportunity for him.

“He has had the opportunity to communicate with a variety of people, including local and state leaders, newspaper reporters, school officials, and radio personalities. He has learned how to open and maintain a checking account and post office box,” she said.

“This project has also provided him with a lot of problem-solving opportunities. When the amount of books overtook our guest bedroom and garage, Allen had to find a solution. When we realized the books would not fit in our Troop’s trailer, so he had to find a different option for delivery.”

Allen rented a storage unit and will rent a truck to move the books to the school on March 26. He will continue collecting books and donations through March. Donations can be sent and made payable to “Allen King’s Eagle Project,” P.O. Box 933, Madison, AL 35758, and books can be dropped by the office during school hours at Mill Creek Elementary School.