On October 26, about 30 Scouts and Scouters from Troop 380 arrived to the Mather VA hospital at 8:30 AM to begin work on a meditation garden for the hospital. The day began as we cleared debris from the worksite and began creating holes for the tree and ground plants to be placed in the ground. Digging into the hardened ground was at first challenging, but with the help of a pickaxe, we managed to succeed in the task. With additional help from cookies donated by the hospital, the group made fast progress, and by mid-morning we had added numerous plants to the site: a Japanese maple tree, Azaleas, Fringe flower, Vinca, and others. Work continued as I directed the volunteers in adding layers of soil and then mulch to the site so that the foliage would succeed in the formerly lifeless area. Scouts and adults helped with distributing the mulch evenly and watering the newly planted vegetation.
We finished by all work by 11:30 AM, and ended the day by consuming pizza, cookies, and carrots donated by Linda and Dimitry Frenklak. Thank you to all who helped with my Eagle project, which will greatly benefit the veterans of the hospital and their families in the future. Additional thanks to Johnny Pennington, and Frank and Grayden Shaw who assisted me in transporting materials on October 24.
