Serving up a new volleyball court

For my Eagle Scout Service Project, I chose to build a sand volleyball court for FamilyPoint Resources, a nonprofit community center. Going into the project, I was very ambitious. I did not expect that the project would cost over $9,800, or that it would take me and my volunteers over 350 hours to complete it. The first workday and groundbreaking of the project took place on Oct. 15 when Mr. Tim Howard and a group of volunteers from the Fellowship in Discipleship, a Christian fellowship group, volunteered to assist me in leveling the ground and scraping off the grass with a backhoe.

My volunteers and I started work on Oct. 29 when we spread 30 cubic yards of dirt, leveled and hammered in railroad ties for a perimeter, augured out post holes, poured cement, and laid out the weed guard. The second weekend, we spread 20 cubic yards of gravel, and 53 cubic yards of sand (that was four truck loads!). We faced a few adversities during the project, like bad weather soaking the dirt piles before we could spread it, and finding debris like metal and cement layers when we were auguring, but I enjoyed working with my volunteers to overcome these hiccups. I am considering studying architecture in college, and the court gave me an opportunity to manage a big project start to finish.

This project could not have happened without the support of Ms. Stephanie Hruzek, (executive director at FamilyPoint Resources), many generous donors, and the many friends and family members that came to help. After finishing the project, I realized the most rewarding part was stepping back and looking at the finished product, thinking to myself that the entire FamilyPoint community will be able to enjoy this volleyball court for many years to come.

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