Eagle project is community garden
June 30, 2009
By Allison Bolgiano
Boy Scouts install the first of three raised garden boxes at the Rose House. Those whose faces you can see are (from left to right) Ed Belleba, Troop 571 Scoutmaster; Zak Vdolek, Eagle Scout and assistant Scoutmaster; Scout Zach Molina; Eagle Scout candidate Nathan McKorkle; Scout Jimmy Boyle; Scout Toby Brown; and Scout Jordan Rabold.By Janine McKorkle
Completing an Eagle Scout project is a huge challenge all Boy Scouts must complete before attaining an Eagle rank.
The project must benefit the community, but the main objective is to demonstrate leadership of others. Fourteen-year-old Nathan McKorkle, of Sammamish Troop 571, had a perfect idea for his project — lead a team to build an accessible raised garden for the residents of Rose House in Issaquah.
“I had a lot of great help. I led mostly younger Boy Scouts, but there was some older ones and some adults, too,” he said. “Even some of the residents’ family helped, too. I had a lot of volunteers and everybody did a really good job.”And lead McKorkle did, seemingly doing everything in order for the three gardens to be planned and constructed — calling local businesses for lumber and gravel, and making pie and flow charts that mapped finances and time schedules.
“Nathan’s Eagle Scout project at the Rose House is the perfect example of a Scout’s passion to help others and leadership ability come together to provide lasting value to the community,” said Ed Belleba, Nathan’s Scoutmaster. “I am sure all of the Rose House residents will build relationships and self-esteem for many years to come as a result of Nathan’s good work.”
Rose House was built in 2003 and is a home for mentally disabled adults. Its mission is to support individuals with developmental disabilities and help them achieve their life goals and vision through supportive housing, employment opportunities, community education and recreation. Nathan has been volunteering at Rose House for the past few years.
“I asked Rose House if they needed any help and they said that they needed some gardeners and this garden happened because of that,” he said.
In the gardens are all types of vegetables, herbs and flowers. The primary goals are for the residents to have responsibility and to care for the gardens. McKorkle said he hopes the gardens will give the residents more than the occasional radish and cilantro, but also a sense of community love and pride.
“I think that the residents will get lots of entertainment from the gardens,” he said. “It will bring the whole community together.”
For now, McKorkle will do some maintenance to the three gardens, maybe adding more in the future. Rose House residents are going to be responsible for the majority of upkeep of the gardens. McKorkle is already planning for next year’s additions to the three gardens.
“I’ll maybe add a little more for next season, taking what I learned about what plants went right and build on it,” he said.
For a Boy Scout who needed to complete a leadership project, McKorkle achieved just that. He said that the work was very hands on and at times, very exhausting. It required a lot of time and patience but he learned a very valuable lesson from all of it, he said.
“I know that without hard work and effort, I would get nothing and achieve nothing.”
Reach intern Angelo Grosso at isspress@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.
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