DeKALB – Jacob Marx, a member of Boy Scout Troop 33 in DeKalb, recently received the Eagle Award, the highest award the Boy Scouts of America presents.
A 2013 graduate of DeKalb High School, he is the son of David and Dawn Marx.
His journey in scouting began as a Tiger Cub in Pack 131 sponsored by the DeKalb Christian Church, where he earned the Arrow of Light, the highest award in Cub Scouts.
In 2006 Marx joined Boy Scout Troop 33, sponsored by the First Lutheran Church. He enjoyed summer camp at Camp Lowden, where he earned many of his 35 merit badges and participated in swimming, canoeing, rifle shooting, archery, handicrafts, nature study, and climbing.
He traveled to disaster relief projects including Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas and Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York. He helped deliver memorial gifts to the city of Newtown, Conn. after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Other adventures took Marx underwater to become a NAUI-certified scuba diver, dog sledding and snowshoeing along Lake Superior. He canoed in the rugged wilderness of Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota and celebrated the 100th anniversary of Scouting at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia.
His Eagle service project benefited Feed’em Soup in DeKalb. His project centered on making a children’s area called Lexi’s Corner, created in memory of Lexi Weber, a core member of Feed’em Soup, who died in a car crash in February 2011. The area was transformed from a table with crayons and coloring books, into an experience that inspires kids to learn. Marx collected more than 2,000 items, including shelves, tables, chairs, art supplies, science supplies, games, toys, and books. A donated rocking chair was painted in Weber’s memory.
He is a member of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society, and has been a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster.
He is now a freshman attending Monmouth College.
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