Lorelei Schreiber, a senior at North Allegheny, was awarded the Eagle Scout rank on April 1. She is the second girl to achieve this honor in all-female Boy Scout of America Troop 9329.
The event took place at Memorial Park Church in McCandless, and was attended by Allegheny County Council member Suzanne Filiaggi and state Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-McCandless, who both gave proclamations to Schreiber alongside her family.
The McCandless resident is grateful for her time with the troop.
Schreiber stated, “The people I have met and the skills I have acquired have greatly shaped who I am today. I am immensely grateful for my experiences in Scouts.”
She is also a captain of the North Allegheny rowing team and a scholar athlete, and played a key role in establishing Troop 9329 in McCandless. The female unit operates in conjunction with Boy Scout Unit 329.
She elected to carry out both her Scout Eagle and Life projects with HEARTH, an organization in Shaler that offers safe and affordable housing for mothers facing homelessness, domestic violence, and other significant traumas.
“I was very passionate about this because HEARTH is just five minutes away from my house, and it would directly benefit my local community,” Schreiber remarked.
A Life project is meant to benefit the community but is usually less complex than a full-scale Eagle project. It involves identifying a cause, drafting a proposal, and presenting it to a committee for approval.
For her Life project, Schreiber coordinated a food drive to stock the snack room at HEARTH.
“I collaborated with troops 329 and 9329, as well as friends, family, and neighbors to gather donations. In the end, I gathered over 1,800 different snacks, which helped keep the residents supplied throughout the summer,” she explained. “For my Eagle project, I aimed to continue supporting HEARTH and decided to make a bigger contribution by assisting with their gardening house.”
The project centered on enhancing an outbuilding used by the residents and their families for planting and storing children’s outdoor toys and athletic equipment. With support from a local Home Depot and the community, Schreiber provided a custom-built work bench for the families' use.
The space for keeping toys and outdoor games in the building was repainted, and new shelving units and hooks were installed to enhance organization. Schreiber and her volunteers also conducted some general cleaning and maintenance inside the building, as well as in the outdoor garden and playground.
Morgan Cable, HEARTH’s community engagement coordinator, stated, “The work she contributed and devoted to our mission has made it easier for our families and their kids to access outdoor activities, fostering both family and community connections.”
“While we strive to offer our families opportunities for development, we recognize the significance of healing within our community. The community garden and shed provide our families with a secure environment to heal and progress together.”
Schreiber will pursue further education and continue her rowing career at Monmouth University in New Jersey, where she has received an academic and athletic scholarship.
She said that being involved in Scouting helped her achieve various things in her life, such as becoming the captain of the rowing team, getting promoted to a shift supervisor at her part-time job at the MilkShake Factory in McCandless, and being a part of North Allegheny’s GOLD (Girls Only Leadership Development) group.
She stated that it allowed her to gain a high level of independence and provided exceptional opportunities for leadership, such as attending the National Youth Leadership camp and reaching the rank of senior patrol leader, the highest form of leadership within the troop.
