SM East junior Zach Hudon noticed that his sister’s after-school program at Briarwood Elementary had a dearth of books. So he decided to try to collect some books for the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department program for his Eagle Scout project. The response was nothing short of overwhelming.

After canvassing the neighborhoods around Briarwood and dropping off plastic bags with notes explaining his project, Hudon started to received hundreds and hundreds of books. By the time he’d finished collecting, he had more than 1,400.

“I definitely expected less books than that,” he said.

Hudon was able to drop the books off with Johnson County Parks and Recreation Sept. 22. The books will now be distributed to after-school programs throughout the county, including programs at Corinth Elementary and Tomahawk Elementary.

“It was a great experience and I hope that some of the younger scouts can see the project and get excited about leading their own,” he said.