His work puts instruments in the hands of students
Macomb High School senior Scott Cousins recently received the Eagle Scout Project of the Year award from the Illowa Council of Scouting America. His musical instrument collection effort was chosen from among 70 Eagle projects completed in 2025 in the 13-county region serving western Illinois and eastern Iowa.
The award was announced April 26 during the organization’s Community Impact Gala in Milan, Illinois, near the Quad Cities. In March, Cousins was one of four scouts to receive project of the year awards in their respective Scouting America districts. The Inali District covers McDonough, Warren, Knox and Stark counties.
Last fall, Cousins coordinated a collection of instruments for Hungry for Music, a nonprofit organization that repairs and distributes about 2,000 instruments worldwide each year. Community News Brief announced the collection last year and, in radio broadcaster Paul Harvey fashion, here’s the rest of the story.
On two dates in September, in a time totaling four hours, Cousins and scouts from Troop 4332 based at St. Paul Church, received donations of 60 instruments at the collection site he coordinated near the high school auditorium. There were more donations than he had anticipated.
