Teen is off to a good start on Eagle badge

ONLY 17, Robert Nelson already has eagle-eyed focus.

He graduates from Inglemoor High School in Kenmore this spring. Next, he wants to join the Marine Corps Reserve because, "Marines are the best," he says with a chuckle, knowing well that his father, a Navy man, will beg to differ.

Nelson, a Mormon, also plans to do a two-year church mission abroad. Before settling on a career, he says, money earned from serving in the military will help pay for college and an English degree.

On the fast path to adulthood, however, the teen just made a life-changing pit stop. This explains why he was near a downtown Greyhound bus station Friday, knee-deep in toilet paper.

Nelson, a Cub Scout when he was 8, was always fired up to climb the scouting ladder -- Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts, and, later, First Class, Star and the rank he now holds, Life. Next up? Eagle Scout.

But to achieve this honor, he knew he'd have to earn nearly two dozen merit badges and show Scout spirit. He also has to serve in a position of responsibility. "That," he said, "is where the project comes in."

Call it Project TP, for toilet paper -- but please, don't put it in the mischievous context of the time-honored high school tradition involving front yards.

Nelson searched for a place with a need and found it at the Urban Rest Stop, the downtown Seattle center offering showers, laundry facilities and restrooms at no charge to homeless and low-income people.

Notebook in hand, the 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pound senior who bench presses 255 pounds became a linebacker-sized version of Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist. He toured the premises with Ronni Gilboa, who manages the rest stop for the Low Income Housing Institute, a nonprofit advocacy organization. The young man made a list.

Soap. Liquid Comet. Disposable razors. Toothpaste. Toothbrushes.

Then he went home -- but not before vowing to the hygiene center's officials: I shall return.

Back on the Eastside, Nelson made a beeline to his Bothell church and told worshippers about his simple plan to help the downtrodden.

Back at the Urban Rest Stop, near Ninth Avenue and Virginia Street, Gilboa later got a curious e-mail from Nelson: Do you, um, have squeegees?

In late March, Nelson organized a fundraising drive by going door-to-door washing home windows. He enlisted volunteers and mapped out multiple routes to target places with "squeegee-rich potential."

His goal? To raise 200 bucks doing windows, and, separately, collect 200 donated books and magazines for the hygiene center.

Things didn't turn out as planned.

He wound up with 279 books, 219 magazines and $865. Talk about cleaning up.

Cash in hand, Nelson calculated which two items the urban rest stop runs out of quickest. That's why 34 28-pound tubs of laundry detergent and 21 36-roll packs of toilet paper ended up at the center's doorsteps Friday.

Folks at the Urban Rest Stop were surprised by the gift. They also were bowled over by the maturity, intelligence and moxie of this teen, by his show of "the power of one," as the Australian novelist Bryce Courtenay put it.

Nelson, beyond being humbled by the response, was touched as well. Getting to know homeless people helped shatter long-held stereotypes, leaving him, well. ...

"Shocked," he said. "Anytime I had envisioned homeless people, I was thinking they're just druggies on the street. Thieves. Criminals. That kind of thing. But these people were nice. Most were working.

"They just want to wash their clothes. Get a hot shower. Shave. They're just trying to make ends meet."

He caught his breath before continuing in a youthful burst.

"They were so respectful," he said. "They were more polite than the people you'd see in a grocery store. I thought that was cool."

A review board will rule later on whether the teen makes Eagle.

Judging by the triumph of his project, I'd say this future Marine has made his case, toilet-papering his way to wings.