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GAITHERSBURG ? Eric Kinch, a 15-year-old member of Epworth UMC, decided to earn his Eagle Scout rank, the highest a Scout can achieve, by raising support for the Fairfield Children's Home in Mutare, Zimbabwe, 'as a symbol of our church's ongoing support of this Methodist mission,' he said.

He enlisted his fellow Scouts in Boy Scout Troop 1760 to make informational posters about the orphanage for the Sunday school classrooms. Senior high students will help him collect gifts of toys, school supplies and toiletries, back packs and clothing to send to the orphanage, according to his article in the church newsletter, Epworth Matters.

Kinch has made arrangements to send at least part of the collection with Lynn Norman, a member of the orphanage's board of directors, who will visit the orphanage in early May.

The Scout is also asking for monetary donations to cover shipping costs of things Norman can't carry, and to go toward a used vehicle for the orphanage, which does not have reliable transportation to take children to doctors and other necessary trips.