Edina Boy Scouts Team with Community Emergency Services

Andrew Brandt, 16, may live in well-heeled Edina, but the Edina High School junior’s attention is focused on Minneapolis’ working-class Phillips neighborhood. Brandt worked with Community Emergency Services (CES) to raise money to install benches and bike racks in Phillips, where many residents don’t own cars and have to walk, take the bus or bike to the CES food shelf, which provides a crucial service. Brandt and fellow scouts from Boy Scout Troup 102 also went door-to-door in his Edina neighborhood in early October to collect 276 pounds of non-perishable food items that helped replenish CES’s shelves.“This work [with CES] was the biggest step toward getting my Eagle Scout badge, which is a big part of my life,” said Brandt. “I’ve been working toward it since I was 10. I also wanted to give back to my community, even though it wasn’t my immediate community. And I feel like I did that.”