Coming Home

For family, friends and denizens of this blog, I have been chronicling my son Joseph’s growth through the Boy Scouts over the 3 1/2 years since he has joined. Read the several posts here, here, here, here, and here. Joseph has come up through the ranks as a Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and now on the precipice of becoming an Eagle Scout. He has grown through several leadership positions, most notably as a Den Chief for Cub Scouts, and as a Patrol Leader this year, counselor-in-training at last year’s summer camp, and now off to work for the summer as a full camp counselor. Guest-blogging today is Joseph, in his own words, about the leadership service project he has chosen, and a request from those who may wish to help support the project.

Here in his own words is my hero, Life Scout, Joseph Nadal:
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Dear Reader,

As part of my final steps towards Eagle Scout, I must do the following requirement found in the BSA Handbook:

“While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your unit leader and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927 in meeting this requirement.”

The organization I am helping is A Very Special Place, Inc., a group that helps adults with developmental disabilities (such as Autism and Down Syndrome) live fuller lives. The organization has several locations in Staten Island, NY, one of them being their executive offices, with others being centers for day programming and still others being group homes.

During Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012, two of their buildings were severely damaged inside, totaling over $1,000,000 in damages. Having repaired and re-opened the two buildings, one of them (the Adult Day Care center in the devastated New Dorp Beach neighborhood) suffered the loss of thirty-six Arborvitae trees along the front and left side of the building. These trees are all dead or dying from the salty ocean water and other contaminants in the water as can be seen in the photo here.

My project is to direct the scouts in my troop to:

1. Remove all of the trees along both sides of the building.
2. Rehabilitate the soil using approximately six yards of fresh top soil, three yards of pete moss, and thirty bags of composted cow-manure, mixed together using a rototiller.
3. Plant new Arborvitae trees where old ones existed.
4. Place edging bricks along edge of soil to make 130 feet of flower bed space for the clients to do their occupational therapy in gardening, since the community gardens (on NYC Parks land a few blocks from this location) were washed out from Hurricane Sandy, and NYC has no plans to replace those gardens. The photo below shows a sample brick along the soil’s edge.

The bricks are necessary to keep the flowers that will be planted from being killed by the landscapers’ weed whackers. I’m also directing the planting of a short Japanese Maple tree in an empty corner of the property surrounded with the same kind of edging brick used for the flower bed stacked three high, and placing a park bench in front of a handicapped ramp. I plan to do this project on June 27, and June 28 July 25 and 26 (this is a two-day project). But in order to do this, I need to raise $3,000 to purchase the trees, soil, peat moss, fertilizer, bricks, and roto-tiller rental.

So today, I am asking if you would care to join in a partnership with me by making a donation to help make this project possible? Your gift (whatever size!) can be claimed as a charitable income tax deduction. (These next four weeks are a narrow window because the trees need to be planted before the August heat at the beach area sets in.) Checks should be written to:

“BSA Troop 37”

The memo on the check should say:

“J. Nadal Project”

BSA policy requires that all money left at the end of the project is to be turned over to the project beneficiary (A Very Special Place, Inc. in this instance). So there’s even better news.

Checks can be mailed to:

Joseph Nadal
℅ BSA Troop 37 Treasurer
33 Ainsworth Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10308

Thank you for taking the time to read this request and for your consideration. Please keep the clients of A Very Special Place, Inc. in your thoughts and prayers as we continue our process of improving their Adult Day Care center.

Respectfully,

Joseph Nadal

{And there he is, in his own words. I’m thinking of turning the blog over to him pretty soon. I’m proud that Joseph has freely chosen this project and developed it as he has. It’s rather poignant for us, and I’m proud of the young man he has become at the ripe old age of 15 years and three weeks. If anyone requires a letter of acknowledgement for tax purposes, A Very Special Place will provide that as the project beneficiary. Joseph will be sending his personal thanks to all. God Bless, G.N.}