A 14-year-old Boy Scout organized a clothing drive for Tongans in need and personally brought the donated items to Tonga. Ashton Likes, from Idaho USA, chose this service project hoping to meet one of the requirements for earning the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.
Ashton’s choice to help Tongan families began when his grandparents – serving as missionaries in Tonga for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – wrote home about a Christmastime food drive they were involved in. Ashton decided to conduct a donation drive for clothing and hygiene items for Tonga, specifically for families with younger children.
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
- Boy Scouts in Tonga
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He started by advertising his project, and gathered enough items to fill two 4x4x4 shipping crates. He also collected enough money to ship the boxes to Tonga.
Ashton, his brother A.J., and his cousins, Zach and Tyler, flew to Tonga with Ashton’s Uncle Casey to distribute the donations in person.
When they arrived in Tonga, the boys began by sorting the donated clothing into family-size distribution bags. Villages and families were identified to receive the donations with the assistance of Siaosi and Katalina Va’enuku, an American retired couple serving there as missionaries.
While distributing the donated items, the Scouts witnessed first-hand an unfamiliar scarceness of temporal comforts and a humbled perspective on the living quarters some call “home.” The Scouts also met happy children and grateful families.
As they made their way door to door, reciprocating friendly greetings in Tongan, the impact on both the families and the Scouts was visible. On their last evening, the Scouts agreed, “This was the best week of our lives.”