ODESSA, Fla. — Jackson Davis spent years transforming an old Pasco County School bus into a mobile food pantry to help the community of Odessa.
The Big Blue Bus is nicknamed “The Eagle” after his Eagle Scout Project, and Davis thought out every detail.
“It started off as just a typical yellow school bus. I mean, a couple years ago, it was driving around kids,” Davis said.
There is a fridge on board, plenty of shelves to store all the food, and a motorized awning, so work can continue both rain or shine.
Transforming this bus was no easy feat. It took three years from start to finish. Davis had a lot of help along the way from his dad and fellow scouts.
“We had about 45 total volunteers, and between all of us, it was almost 500 hours worth of work,” said Davis.
His father, Dave, said, “Jackson watched a ton of YouTube videos of people that convert these into homes and motor homes and all kinds of things. He likes to say us, but it was 99% the scouts and him. I was here to make sure they were safe. That's what I'm supposed to do. But they did most of the work.”
Along the way, he earned his eagle scout badge, which is scouting's highest rank. But Davis said for him, it wasn't about the badge; it was about the journey to get it.
“I knew I want to do something that would really impact people when I was trying to choose a project, and I had done a little bit of work with Messengers of Hope. And just seeing the amount of work that all of them do here, the amount of people who are really affected, they just really inspired me to help out with them and make sure that they can feed people,” explained Davis.
Bob Gardner, the CEO of "Messengers of Hope," said the bus has transformed the way the nonprofit feeds the community.
“We used to load everything into cars and trucks, and we'd have to get everyone there and then unloading it and make sure that we got everything, and people would forget things in different parts of their car. Oh, I forgot to put it in the footboard, and you know, and then we had to find it and get it. Now it's all in one spot. We don't have to bring it all out. We bring it out as we need it,” said Gardner.
Along the way, Davis is creating a lasting legacy that will impact the community for years to come.
“There's easily over 100 people who come through every time we bring it out, and there's women children, and people who really need the food and being able to give them the basic necessity that they need. It's an amazing experience to do,” explained Davis.
Davis’s official eagle scout ceremony is scheduled for February. But that's not all of his accomplishments.
He's also Pasco County's Presidential Scholar. He'll find out later this year if he wins the national award. Plus, he's also the captain of his swim team at Wendell Krinn Technical High School in New Port Richey and the design lead on his robotics team.
