CV senior earns rank of Eagle Scout
Boy Scout Troop 28 of Bower Hill Community Church in Mt. Lebanon and the local South Hills Pittsburgh community will honor Nicholas Spak at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Nov. 8. Nicholas is the son of Father Deacon Myron and Mrs. Barbara Spak of Scott Township. He has an older sister, Larissa, and an older brother, Michael, who is also an Eagle Scout.
Nicholas has successfully lived up to the Scout Oath and Law and has demonstrated those principles by his actions. An Eagle Scout must have completed at least 21 merit badges and organized a service project that benefits his church, community or school.
Nicholas and his family have been aware of the needs of the orphans, homeless and less fortunate in Ukraine. Therefore, for his Eagle Project he led an international humanitarian project that entailed collecting and shipping over 900 pounds of first-aid and personal hygiene items to 12 different centers for needy children and orphanages throughout Ukraine. Many of these centers were visited by Nick’s sister, Larissa, in 2012 and 2013 while she was on mission trips to Ukraine. Additional funds raised beyond the needs of shipping the first-aid supplies were used to cover the cost of shipping 54 containers of adult diapers to an orphanage of severely disabled children. In total, more than one ton of supplies was shipped to Ukraine. This Eagle Scout Project was initiated in the spring of 2013 and was completed this past winter.
The outcome of this humanitarian project far exceeded expectations of all involved. Nicholas managed all aspects of this Eagle project, which included planning and executing the entire project, soliciting funds to offset shipping costs, organizing his Scout Troop and members of the local Ukrainian community who collected items from area churches, schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations, as well as packaging and shipping, confirming addresses in Ukraine and investigating all aspects of the logistics with parcel shipping companies.
Nicholas joined Cub Scout Pack 861 of Holy Child Catholic Church in Bridgeville in first grade and later earned Cub Scout’s highest award, the Arrow of Light. A member of Troop 28 since 2009, he regularly attended Troop Summer Camp programs, which included a trip to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 2010. Nicholas has held various leadership roles as a Boy Scout which included chaplain aid, patrol leader and assistant senior patrol leader. He is also a member of Boy Scout’s National Honor Society, the Order of the Arrow. In 2012, Nicholas earned the Light is Life Religious Emblem for Eastern Catholic Scouts.
A senior at Chartiers Valley High School, Nicholas has been active in the high school show band and high school concert band. He is a member of the Robotics team, National Honor Society and Math Honor Society. Nick is a member of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, where he is an altar server and is active member of the parish youth group. Nicholas also volunteers at the Light of Life Rescue Mission on the North Side of Pittsburgh, where he regularly serves meals to the homeless. He plans on attending a college or university after high school, where he plans to study engineering.