Photo Brief: Peter Jesch

Ithaca Eagle Scout Peter Jesch (above), 17, recently organized and led a mask-making sewing project to donate masks to the Tompkins County Health Department for distribution to Mutual Aid Tompkins, No Mas Lagrimas and the Tompkins County Food Task Force. Jesch is currently homeschooled and joined Boy Scout Troop 55 in the fall of 2016. “My best friend Anthony was in the troop. I also have a passion for the outdoors and learning survival skills and I wanted to further develop my skills in the troop,” he said. Jesch’s donation was his Eagle Project, the final requirement for the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. The Eagle Project requirement states that a scout must “plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school or your community,” and the project must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouts. “I decided to do a mask-making project because there was an unmet need for masks in the community. It is something that volunteers can also easily do at their homes and benefits the community,” Jesch said. Jesch began the project in February, and all the masks were completed and donated by mid-April. The pandemic made it impossible to meet volunteers in person, so Jesch created mask-making kits — with enough supplies for five masks — that he distributed community members to help with his Eagle Project remotely. Almost all the materials came from community donors, Jesch said. After the masks were completed, volunteers dropped them off at Jesch’s house, and when all the masks were in, Jesch donated them to the Health Department, which Jesch described as a very smooth process. Public Health Director Frank Kruppa thanked Jesch for his efforts in a newsletter released last month, which can be found at https://t.ly/T9Cg.