As a Boy Scout, Derick Kinser is concerned about his community and the world around him. Looking for an idea for his Eagle project, Derick struck up a conversation with Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz.

Lutz suggested that Derick consider raising awareness of how storm drain runoff affects the Susquehanna River. Inspired by the idea, Derick gathered a team and got to work.

"As a group, we refinished and repainted almost 100 of the storm drains in the bottom end of Columbia Borough, hoping for them to stand out and make people think twice about dumping a harmful substance into our rain runoffs that lead into the river," he said.

He started planning his project in mid-July and spent two workdays in late August with two different crews. On the first day, he had help from Eugene Schmitt, Jarret Schmitt, his brothers Shane and Travis Kinser, and Becky Wright. On the second day, Travis and Shane returned to help, along with Derick's father, Dave Kinser. Derick also worked with Columbia Borough, specifically with Jake Graham, who is the public works manager.

Not only did the group clean up the storm drains, but they also created catchy sayings in bright colors to draw attention to the project. Storm drains are now decorated with phrases including "Protect Our Waters," "Please Don't Litter," "Only Rain in the Storm Drain," and "Wildlife Downstream."

Derick, a senior at Columbia High School and also the son of Rebecca Kinser of Columbia, attends the full-day heavy equipment operation course at Lancaster County Career & Technology Center.

He joined Cub Scouts at age 5 and worked his way up through the program. He's a member of Troop 35, and he hopes to officially obtain the rank of Eagle Scout by the end of November. Now that his project is complete, he'll present before a board of review to receive approval and obtain the rank.

Boy Scouts has provided Derick with opportunities he might not have had elsewhere, he said. "I enjoy the experiences that I get from Scouts," he remarked. "The things we learn and things we do are things that you can't take from a classroom, whether it's just basic camping or just having a good time with other boys from my troop at a go-kart track."