Outlines for the community garden beds with soil exposed.

Thanks to Jacob Morabito and fellow scouts from Troop 221 (Manorville), a new community garden is now in place. Jacob directed about 20 others from his troop on May 24 & 25, as they built and prepared two raised beds, then planted a few different vegetables.

Last spring as Jacob pondered possible ideas for his Eagle Scout Service Project, he heard an announcement in church one Sunday about a community garden to provide fresh vegetables for food pantry clients.

“I liked the idea and wanted to help with it,” Jacob recalled recently. “I also realized that it was a good fit for my Eagle Project because it was definitely something to help people in an important way.”

The Eagle Project is the opportunity for a Boy Scout to demonstrate his leadership of others while planning and completing a project that benefits his community. The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts.

The several church members who had proposed the garden were delighted with Jacob’s interest in fulfilling their dream, and happy to turn it over to him. Jacob would need to develop a proposal for his project that would need to be approved by the appropriate Boy Scout officials.

“My first step was to research and learn about everything involved in preparing and planting a garden,” said Jacob. Then he had to decide the dimensions, the specific design, the type and quantities of necessary materials and supplies, and his plans for fundraising.

Scouts building frames for two sections of the community garden.

After scouting officials approved his plans, Jacob presented the proposal to the NSUMC Trustees who also approved it and arranged to have a tree removed from the proposed site on the east side of the church. Meanwhile Jacob directed a very successful car-wash fundraiser one Saturday in April.

“We raised $400 more than I targeted for the materials and plants,” Jacob reported. “It’s enough for a fence to keep the deer away from the plants. I turned the money over to the trustees who will buy the kind of fence they want.”

Once all the preparations were complete, Jacob chose Memorial Day weekend as the work date. God provided two beautiful days for the construction and planting.

“We planted strawberries, zucchini, green beans, basil, eggplant, and peppers so far,” Jacob said. “There’s room for some more.”

Manorville Scout Troop 221 and their finished community garden.

Jacob expressed appreciation to his troop 221 friends, Scoutmaster Freddy Grosskopf for all his support, his mom Cindy for her “keeping me on track in the early stages of researching, organizing, and planning,” and for his dad’s help with the construction and planting.