BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer
MONROE — As a Boy Scout, local resident Brian Stigner has hiked and camped all over New Jersey, and sailed well beyond its coast.
But his most significant Scout activity may come this weekend in his hometown.
Stigner organized a blood drive to take place this Saturday.
To become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve, the Scout must perform a community service project. Stigner said he chose to run a blood drive because his grandmother died from complications of a platelet disorder called immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).
When a person has ITP, antibodies attach themselves to blood platelets, cells that help stop bleeding, and destroy them.
“It’s where you have low platelets and you don’t regenerate them fast. So, I want to have a blood drive for people like her,” Stigner said.
Stigner, at 16 years old, is currently considered a Life Scout. He has been in the Scouts since he was about 6 years old, and said that he may remain involved in the Scouts even after he earns his Eagle rank.
He can continue his participation until he is 18, he said.
His favorite part of being a Scout is camping, though his most memorable experience was not on dry land.
He said he and the rest of Troop 3 embarked on a high adventure sailing trip, during which they lived on a boat for a week.
“From the Chesapeake Bay, we sailed to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, and then when we got there we walked around the harbor and basically hung out,” he said, adding that the Scouts learned several sailing skills on the trip.
Stigner also enjoys the Scout competitions, which take place in February and May of each year.
“In February, we have to build a sled out of wood and rope. And then we go to different stations. We do first aid and things like that,” he said.
The May competitions focus more on orienteering, which involves the use of a compass.
“They give us a place to start from and then they give us degrees and feet, and we have to map out the course. And it would say, from this spot, 200 feet there’s a tree, identify the tree. So we would have to use different skills to answer the questions on the trail,” he said.
Both competitions were held in Thompson Park this year and featured between 10 and 15 other New Jersey troops.
Stigner has been hiking in the Scouts for years, but they may have saved the best, and most challenging, for last.
Earlier this year, Troop 3 hiked 22 miles through the Palisades in northern New Jersey.
“It was a tougher hike, so that’s better, because sometimes we go on hikes that aren’t very hard to do, and I like challenging hikes. The first day was like 12 miles, the second day was like 10, and it was in a very hilly area, so it was tough to do that,” Stigner said.
Saturday’s blood drive will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Monroe Township First Aid Squad building on Matchaponix Road.