MARTINSVILLE, Ind. -- When Jennifer Burnam thinks about her son Gunner, she remembers a boy who loved to help people.
“The hardest working kid anyone ever saw,” she said.
Gunner was in Boy Scout Troop 229 and it was one of his favorite activities, along with playing football at John Wooden Middle School.
He had his sights set on earning the Eagle Award, scouting’s highest rank, but cancer cut that dream short.
He died on September 15 at the age of 14, less than one year after being diagnosed with the rare children’s cancer Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.
To earn the Eagle Award, a scout must pass many requirements – including carrying out a service project.
Gunner already had a project in mind, a canned food drive in Martinsville.
“This project was so important to Gunner because he loved to help people,” said Burnam, “This project would allow him to feed many people, especially during the holiday season.”
Gunner is gone, but his project lives on in a big way.
The goal was to collect 500 cans of food. To date, more than 6,000 cans have been donated and the food is going to needy Martinsville residents.
The project more than meets the requirements for the Boy Scouts’ Spirit of the Eagle Award, an honorary posthumous recognition for scouts who lose their lives through illness or accident.
Burnam hopes to make the food drive an annual tradition in her son’s honor, and there are plans for a scholarship called the Gunner Mental Attitude Award.
You can read more about Gunner’s story here.
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