Gagan Manjunatha, Eagle Scout
Total Volunteer Hours Worked: 336
My project involved the construction and installation of two lending libraries – a replacement of an existing lending library and installing a new one at Burke Lake Park playground. The beneficiary of this project is the Fairfax County Park Authority.
It aimed to improve the sense of community in the park by providing lending libraries where children who love books can trade in their old books for new ones. The libraries not only enhanced activities in the park but also instilled a newfound love for reading in children. Additionally, these libraries promoted literacy and made reading fun for children, providing access to books for those who may have difficulty finding or affording them. These positive outcomes not only benefited the children but also helped foster the sense of community that Burke Lake is striving to create.
Observations and Challenges
The things that went well during the project were announcing the project to my scouting peers and emailing everyone for the first day of work, ordering materials within the initial budget, construction of the lending libraries at camper with a couple of woodshop volunteers, and installing the lending library at the worksite of Burke Lake Park.
There were several challenges – A clear account of the volunteers coming to the project events; transporting the materials from the store to the construction site; the time requirement to build and paint the lending libraries at Camp Snyder Michael’s Woodshop; the dates rescheduled for installing at Burke Lake Park were being moved back so that adequate number of people can sign up; the time requirement to install the lending libraries; finding the next best day to install the Lending Libraries that fit with the Fairfax County Public Schools and my college calendars; the amount of cement needed to put in the lending libraries was initially not enough; and lastly the weather forecast for the first installation day was not the greatest, however we didn’t cancel it.
Leadership
I demonstrated leadership by effectively planning and organizing tasks, clearly communicating goals and expectations, and fostering a strong sense of teamwork. I addressed challenges through proactive problem solving, delegated responsibilities based on team members’ strengths, and managed projects to completion with attention to detail. Additionally, I resolved conflicts constructively and made it a priority to celebrate successes and recognize the contributions of others including adult volunteers.
The most difficult part about being the leader was making a working plan, and mediating unexpected issues. The most rewarding part about being the leader was celebrating the success of everyone who contributed their hard work along with the final product of the hard work.
I learned that having backups and running through multiple scenarios is needed for creating a good plan. Consulting experts within the field that you are working towards and having a secondary person look at plans helps making things that you would have not considered more fool proof.