TWINSBURG, OHIO – Being a Boy Scout means enjoying the great outdoors — but that doesn’t have to include flies in your lunch or mice in your bunk.
It’s with the potential for these types of problems in mind that David Larson, service manager, Innovative Pest Management, Newhall, Calif., approached James Rodriguez, sales manager for J.T. Eaton, a Twinsburg, Ohio-based manufacturer of integrated pest management (IPM) products, at a local distributor’s meeting. For the past decade, Larson has volunteered his time and services to ensure the California summer camp sites of Emerald Bay on Catalina Island, Camp Josepho in the Santa Monica Mountains, and Camp Whitsett in the Southern Sierra Mountains have any pest problems kept to a minimum.
But in this economy, it’s difficult to keep resources going for such a project — and that’s why Larson turned to J.T. Eaton. “I’ve never asked a manufacturer for a donation before,” he said, adding that the company was very receptive to his request.
“When David told me about the program, I knew right away that we’d want to help,” Rodriguez says. “It’s in keeping with the mission of our Stanley Z. Baker Philanthropic Program.”
The late Baker, whose sons Ben and Bart and grandson Dale lead J.T. Eaton today, was known not only for his innovative IPM products, but for his desire to help others in professional pest management. The company began its philanthropic program for charitable industry donations and scholarships in his honor in 2005.
With the Boy Scout camps’ emphasis on respecting nature, it was important to use low-impact products that targeted just the pests, with no adverse effect on native wildlife — or curious Scouts.
“Because their biggest concerns were mice and house flies, we were able to ship David a variety of J.T. Eaton products, including mouse traps, glueboards, multiple-catch mouse traps, our new easy-to-set Jawz Mouse Size traps and several large Stick-Em glue boards,” Rodriguez reports.
“I was amazed that they sent so much,” notes Larson. “I’m very appreciative. I’m going to the first Scout Camp at the end of June, and these materials are going to be put to good use all summer.”
For more information about the Stanley Z. Baker Philanthropic Program, call J.T. Eaton at 800/321-3421 or visit www.jteaton.com.