Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Dominic Gomez

Each week, San Bruno Patch will feature an amazing kid, youth group, teen or sports team that wows us with their accomplishments. 

This week, we feature sophomore Dominic Gomez, who recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week

Name/Age: Dominic Gomez, 16

School: Capuchino High School

Accomplishment: In the summer when he was in sixth grade, Dominic’s mom tricked him.

“Do you guys want to go camping and shoot guns?” she told him and his friend, Dominic recalled. 

Like any eager young boy, Dominic and his friend excitedly agreed. But they didn’t realize what they were really getting into until later on. 

“Next thing I know, I’m wearing a Scout uniform,” Dominic said. 

In the long run, his mom’s “trick” has led to one of Dominic’s most fulfilling accomplishments. He was recently awarded the Eagle Scout rank, a special honor that only few people ever achieve. In 2010, only 5 percent of all Boy Scouts earned the Eagle Scout rank, according to Boys Scouts of America. 

He got the honor by completing a project at the Millbrae History Museum over 150 hours in which he organized a group of friends to cut and sort newspaper clippings on Millbrae history as well as donated 150 pieces of artwork from the historical society to the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University and the Ronald McDonald House Charities. 

He got the idea for donating the artwork from his niece, who had leukemia and was being treated at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. He wanted to inspire her and other kids in her situation. 

“I wanted to make the kids happy and give them something they could go with, and then see what they liked,” Dominic said. 

As part of his journey to become an Eagle Scout, Dominic earned 21 merit badges, including badges in first aid, camping and three citizenship badges. Being a Scout has allowed him to be exposed to the outdoors through hiking and camping and allowed him to interact with his peers on a different level that puts growing up in an urban environment into perspective. 

Being a Scout has even helped him get through some of his most challenging moments, he said, like when his parents got divorced. 

“It just helps you,” Dominic said. “It let’s you know that you’re not by yourself.”