Letter 1
Dear Eagle Scout review board,
I am beyond to be honoured to be writing this recommendation letter for my dear neighbour and church member John Tarkowski who intends to become an Eagle Scout.
I have known John Tarkowski for over 5 years now. Since the Tarkowski family moved into the neighbourhood, John has been nothing short of bright spark in the community.
As a neighbour and church member, I have watched John grow into a reliable, courteous and trust worthy young man who approaches every task, big or small, with courage and good cheer.
Around the neighbourhood and in church, he displays deep scouting values by being very respectful and friendly to elders and peers alike. He is punctual in all activities and keeps his word, showing integrity beyond his years.
John has a big heart and is always willing to help out where needed.
In December, in our small church, the youth members were organizing a play about the birth of our lord saviour, Jesus Christ. The play was to be performed on Carol night which was going to hold on Christmas Eve.
3 days to this glorious event, 2 of the actors who were siblings had an impromptu change of Christmas plans and had to travel, leaving the roles of; Angel Gabriel and 1 of the 3 wise men vacant.
We have quite a small congregation and due to the absentees, the play was looking quite doubtful. However, John stepped in and saved the day. He volunteered to play both roles despite not having any stage experience before. This meant learning and memorizing all the lines to Angel Gabriel’s appearance to our Virgin Mother Mary, as well as getting his costumes for both roles ready, in less than 3 days.
This remarkable young man put his head down, learnt his lines, and adjusted the costumes. He literally saved the day. Such dedication and selflessness in young men is rare.
Christmas heroics aside, his belief in God and family is nothing short of admirable. He is attentive and faithful in his religious activities and a role model to his younger siblings.
I feel like John Tarkowski perfectly upholds the principles of the Boy Scout law and oath at all times. I have no hesitation in recommending John for the rank of Eagle Scout.
Letter 2
Dear Eagle Scout review board,
I have been a coach to Jeremy at our Galaxy Young Stars football academy for 2 years. Through my encounters with him over this period of time, he has proven to be hardworking, reliable and very resourceful.
Our personal motto here at GYS football academy is; Discipline, Togetherness, and Hard work. I must say Jeremy embodies all these traits and more, so much that he was made the captain of the under 17 GYS team despite being here for a relatively short time.
Mr Jeremy has always exhibited unequivocal leadership skills, and being made captain has only brought his abilities to the fore front. During team meetings he is quick to understand team tactics and explain to other team mates who don’t grasp it easily.
He shows consistency by putting in the same amount of effort in both practice and during actual games. We have a saying here at GYS; “we train, how we play”. We don’t believe in taking it easy in training and turning up for matches. We believe that practice sessions should just be as competitive in order to be fully prepared when we meet our opponents. Jeremy takes practice as serious as actual games, showing a high level of consistency.
On the field, while not being the most vocal, Jeremy leads by example with his work rate. He does not stop running until the final whistle. No matter the score line, no matter the circumstances, he gives 100% there by motivating his teammates to do same. It is no surprise that the team has enjoyed a bit of success in recent time.
He is always willing to fill in any position on the field if there is a player missing is our due to suspension or injury, or even for tactical reasons. As midfielder, he is more suited to a central role but if necessary he play in either, defense or attack without complain. Sometimes I feel his favourite words are “Yes Coach”
In sports you cannot win all the time. When we lost the championship semi-final to the Inter Miami Under 17’s last year, Jeremy gave a very resounding war cry of a speech in the locker room, urging the whole team to look at the glass as half full instead of half empty. He reminded us of how far we have come and told his teammates to allow the pain of the defeat serve as motivation to come back the following year and win it all. It was a glorious moment, bowed heads were raised, teary eyes turned into looks of determination, and a crushing defeat turned to a learning opportunity. We came back the following year and won it all with our captain Jeremy as the most valuable player of the tournament.
It has been a pleasure having this remarkable young man under my guidance. With great enthusiasm, I recommend my captain Jeremy Yuto as an Eagle Stout, and I look forward to him attaining this great achievement.
Yours truly,
Coach Spencer
Letter 3
Dear Eagle Scout review board,
I am delighted to be able to provide this reference for Charlie Barnes ashe strives to become a member of the revered eagle scout society.
As his uncle, have known Charlie practically all his life. But I have had the privilege of witnessing his teenage years a little closer since he started attending high school, which is just by my house. He stops by regularly to visit and help around me with some domestic and farm work. I have bad back and still insist on tending to my vegetable farm. He has been tremendous help in keeping that garden alive.
Most of all, what I do enjoy about his weekly visits is the company. I stay alone since. My wife has sadly passed and all my children have long left the nest.
Charlie is full of life and has a great passion for social work. He always has a cause he is thinking about volunteering to or a project he is considering on taking on. And while some of his plans don’t come to fruition due to the one little snag or the other, every now and then he actually succeeds in carrying them out. He will ask a million questions and I try my best to provide the best guidance I can.
He is always involved in one service project, or volunteering somewhere. One month he is gathering used books from family, friends, teachers and neighbors to build a book box for the children in the community. Another month he is volunteering at the Christiana Volunteen program which allows teenagers to serve at different hospitals in their community, and exposing these young adults to how hospitals and health professionals operate.
But of all his social work, something quite remarkable happened in November.
Last Thanksgiving, he and a group of scouts planned to volunteer at the local homeless shelter here in Atascadero to pass out food, clothes, and help the residents restock over the counter medication. They have been volunteering there for a few years now.
Charlie approached the homeless shelter to let them know of his group’s intention to volunteer and provide catering help, as they had done in previous years. But he was told the shelter had been defunded and as such this year’s Thanksgiving was going to be quite low effort due to lack of funding and donations.
Charlie went back to his little group and came up with a plan. The plan was meticulous indeed as he carried me along via frequent updates.
They vowed to find a way to make Thanksgiving special for the community shelter residents who they’d gotten quite familiar with in the course of volunteering in the past couple of years. He even knew some on a first name basis.
He went back to the shelter and made the staff aware of his group’s intention to provide the residents with food, clothes and restock medication. He of course met skepticism from the manager of the shelter. The manager was unsure about how a group of high school students were going to pool together enough resources to carry out their intentions. It took some convincing but the manager came on board.
After getting approval from the staff, Charlie and his group swung into action by getting the required data they needed for the project, such as; total number of residents, their respective genders, and the ratio of adults to kids. They asked for a list of residents who had allergies in order to know what type of food to avoid. Average clothes sizes and medications were also noted.
Next, a budget was drawn in order to get everything they needed to make Thanksgiving memorable for the shelter residents. They raised funds by opening a gofundme and solicited donations, they spread it across social media, got a sizeable return. People couldn’t resist but support when they heard what these young men were trying to achieve. Local businesses also played their part in making donations.
The project was such a resounding success that these young men made the local paper. Yes! That’s right. My nephew is a local celebrity.
With the commitment and responsibility Charlie Barnes has shown in making a positive impact in his community through his service projects and volunteer work, I am confident he will continue to be an asset to both the scouting community and the any society he finds himself in. I fully endorse his application for this prestigious award.
Yours sincerely,
John Barnes
