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.
“We mainly had band instruments like clarinets, saxophones and trumpets. We received orchestra instruments like violas, and we received a banjo,” said Cousins, who plays baritone saxophone. “Some looked brand new, and it was evident that others had been in storage for decades. They weren’t broken but they needed refurbishing.”
Cousins said Hamilton High School donated several broken instruments, which may be repaired by Hungry for Music.
The instruments were stored in the Knights of Columbus garage, where the troop meets, until a Hungry for Music representative traveled in November from the organization’s headquarters in Virginia to collect the instruments in Macomb, in addition to pickups in Indianapolis, Chicago and St. Louis.
“I'm glad that we could add a substantial amount of instruments to their organization,” Cousins said. After being inspected and refurbished, if necessary, the instruments from Macomb will be donated to Title 1 schools nationwide. Title 1 is a federal program that provides funding to schools that serve high numbers of low-income households.
Completing an Eagle Scout project allows scouts to demonstrate their leadership skills in planning and completing a project for the benefit of a community or an organization other than Scouting America. It is required to achieve scouting’s highest rank.
Cousin’s final step toward Eagle was completing a board of review in early December. He plans on participating in a Court of Honor ceremony this summer will other scouts from his troop who are finishing their Eagle requirements.
Cousins thinks the uniqueness of his project led its being chosen for the award.
“My project had an impact around the country for youth band programs. And that organization [Hungry for Music] helps put instruments in the hands of people in need. It has a global scale.”
The youngest of Dan and Deborah Cousins’ seven children, Scott Cousins will begin studying STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] this fall at Monmouth College. Although he is undecided on a major, he is especially interested in physics and engineering.
He has earned a spot in the college’s SOFIA program, which stands for Summer Opportunities for Intellectual Activities. When he arrives on campus three weeks before school starts, he will work on a student-mentor team to conduct research on human joints, one of seven projects offered this year.
Cousins credits Scouting for setting the course for his future.
“In Scouting, we don’t just learn knots and how to make a fire,” he said. “We learn core moral values that we have memorized in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. That will stick with me for the rest of my life.”
