One young Scout – enormous impact
It’s hard not to let hurtful words and actions get you down. Meet Zachary, a 9-year-old Cub Scout from Indiana, United States of America, who took a stand against bullying to help others, and in the process also drove an enormous plastics recycling initiative. Discover how this young Scout, with a big heart and sincere convictions, has created incredible impact!
Bullies come in all sizes and all ages. When Zachary, a Cub Scout from Pack 4119 in Harrison County, Indiana experienced bullying, he took a stand against the children giving him trouble and found a way to help other young people.
“Kids can make a big change in the world. It doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, what language you speak.”
Zachary set his heart on building a Buddy Bench for his school, a safe space for young people to escape bullying and find new friends. The idea is simple: kids can sit on the bench if they’re being bullied or feeling lonely, to indicate to teachers and students that they need some support or someone to play with.
And this wasn’t just any old bench, it would be made out of melted-down recycled plastic bottle caps to raise awareness about recycling and caring for our environment. Zachary got a local business, Kellum Imprints and Printing, on board to help, who said they needed 250 pounds (113kg) of plastic lids for every bench and set out to collect the lids, including on litter pick-up hikes with his family. He also appeared on WAVE 3 television station to share his story and, touched by his kindness and positive action, they helped him to collect even more plastics for the Buddy Bench.
“Scouting teaches us to be the best person we can be […] and being a Scout, I know that I need to be a leader.”
Zachary has delivered three recycled plastic Buddy Benches to school playgrounds since the start of his project and plans to continue. He says he thought it would take years to achieve, but it only took a few months, recognising the support of his friends, family, teachers and enthusiastic supporters!
The bench has proved to be a success. One student, Gemma, explained how she saw a boy, Gabe, sitting alone on the bench, so she joined him to see what was up, and they have since become firm friends. “I think it was really helpful as Gabe wouldn’t have had anyone to play with if Zachary hadn’t come up with the Buddy Bench”, she said on national television!
Zachary’s positive local action illustrates how just one young Scout can show incredible leadership, inspiring and rallying his local community to together make an enormous positive impact.
His Buddy Bench action has been recognised as a Messengers of Peace project, which also supports the Plastic Tide Turners initiative and SDGs goals including #3 Good Health and Well-Being, #10 Reduced Inequalities, #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and #17 Partnerships for the Goals.
Messengers of Peace is a flagship initiative of World Scouting, which inspires young people around the world to take action in their communities by contributing to peace and sustainable development.
The Plastic Tide Turners Challenge is a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) led initiative, supported by World Scouting, which gives young people the opportunity to fight plastic pollution and understand how plastic consumption affects us all.
