Eagle Scout service projects are a
requirement for any youth to earn their Eagle rank, and these
projects require a significant effort to complete.
An Eagle Scout planning guide website says these projects require
the scout “to plan, organize, and direct a project of significant
value.” It also provides an “opportunity to demonstrate leadership
qualities.”
Before deciding on a project, Alaniz said, “When I first crossed
into Scouts from Cub Scouts, my dad and I started brainstorming
ideas for my Eagle Scout project. One of our ideas was to start a
community garden, [but] starting a community garden would have been
a bit too big of a project.”

Then, Alaniz was told about the
Lincoln community garden. One of the projects that the community
garden needed [to be] done was replacing the garden tool shed.
Alaniz said, “I thought that it would be a cool experience to learn
how to build a shed from the ground up.”
Alaniz’s project took just over two weeks of actual building. He
said, “I spent several weeks before my project day purchasing
materials, researching different plans for sheds, watching videos
about building sheds similar to mine, and making a list of all the
materials I would need for my projects.”
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Eagle projects are
less about the work completed, and more about demonstrating
planning and leadership, so Alaniz had other members of his
scout troop help with the project. Alaniz said, “a few of my
friends in the troop helped me frame out all the walls before
the day of my project. By framing out all the walls and being as
prepared as possible, we were able to assemble the shed in one
day. From start to end building the shed took about two weeks.”
As with most of the projects, there were some costs involved. To
help pay for materials, Alaniz said, “Lincoln Ace Hardware
donated $100 of materials at cost. I supplied the rest of the
materials for the shed.”
The Lincoln Community Garden Project grows a wide variety of
food that is given back to community members who would like to
receive fresh, garden-grown vegetables. Alaniz said, “the shed
that I built for this project provides a place to store tools
and items necessary for the garden.”
By providing a space for storage, Alaniz’s shed will benefit the
community garden now and in the future.
[Angela Reiners] |