McCandless girl earns rank of Eagle Scout

North Allegheny senior Lorelei Schreiber received her Eagle Scout rank April 1, the second girl to receive this award for the all-female Scouts BSA Troop 9329.

The ceremony was held at Memorial Park Church in McCandless, where she and her family were joined by Allegheny County Council member Suzanne Filiaggi and state Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-McCandless, who both presented proclamations to Schreiber.

The McCandless resident is thankful for her time with the troop.

“Between the people I have met and skills I have learned, I wholeheartedly believe I would not be who I am today without my experience in Scouts,” Schreiber said.

A captain of the North Allegheny rowing team and a scholar athlete, she is one of the founding members of the Troop 9329 in McCandless. The female unit meets alongside Boy Scout Unit 329.

She chose to perform both her Scout Eagle and Life projects with HEARTH, a Shaler-based organization that provides one to two years of safe and affordable housing for mothers experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and other significant trauma.

“This was very important to me because HEARTH is five minutes down the road from my house, so it would directly impact my local community,” Schreiber said.

A Life project should help the community but is typically less involved than a full-scale Eagle project, she said. Steps include finding a cause, writing a proposal and presenting it to a committee for approval.

Schreiber organized a food drive to help fill the snack room at HEARTH for her Life project.

“I worked with troops 329 and 9329, with friends, family and neighbors to collect donations. I ended up collecting over 1,800 different snacks which helped keep the residents supplied throughout the summer,” she said. “For my Eagle project I wanted to continue to help HEARTH, and I took a bigger step with helping with their gardening house.”

That project was focused around improving an outbuilding used by the residents and their families for planting and storing children’s outdoor toys and athletic gear. Working with donations from a local Home Depot and the community, Schreiber provided a custom-built work bench for the use of the families.

The building’s room storing toys and outdoor games was repainted, and new shelving units and hooks were installed for better organization. Schreiber and her volunteers also did some general cleaning and upkeep inside the building and in the outdoor garden and playground.

“The work she contributed and dedicated to our mission makes it easier for our families and their kids to access outdoor activities to do together, promoting both family and community connection,” Morgan Cable, HEARTH community engagement coordinator, said.

“While we work hard to provide our families with opportunities for growth, we understand the importance of healing amongst our community. The community garden and shed give our families a safe space to heal and grow together.”

Schreiber will continue her education and rowing career at Monmouth University in New Jersey, to which she received an academic and athletic scholarship.

Scouting helped her accomplish a variety of achievements in her life, she said, including being elected captain of rowing team, being 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.

“It helped me achieve a high level of independence,” she said, “and I gained extraordinary opportunities to lead, including attending the National Youth Leadership camp and attaining the rank of senior patrol leader, the highest form of leadership within the troop.”