My name is Dillon McVeigh and I am a Life Scout of Troop 708 in Castro Valley, California. I have been an active member of the Scouting community since the first grade and I am currently working towards becoming an Eagle Scout. To complete this noteworthy achievement, I will lead a project that will benefit the Oakland community by accomplishing the following:

What will this project do?

The goal of my project is to assemble, paint, and install three Little Libraries for the Acta Non Verba Youth Urban Farm Project at City Slicker Farm in Oakland California.

The project includes fundraising to bring together all components with a budget, assembling a group of volunteers to help with digging post holes, priming, painting, concrete mixing, leveling, and installation on the assigned workdays. The three libraries will be strategically placed near the Community Garden, the Outdoor Classroom, the Children's Playground on the property of ANV farm. These libraries will be a barn or two story composite design of a similar price purchased from shop.littlefreelibrary.org. They will be primed and painted to match the colors of the nonprofit's logo before installation.

Furthermore, the project will also include a book drive conducted at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School (my school). The book drive will be led and promoted on my school's bulletin with a request to donate books with a focus on education, plants, nature, community, and children's stories. There will be a box to collect the books in my school's library and I will transport them to the project site to be added to the libraries in their respective areas. Each program area on their property will have specific book themes for each library to match. For instance, children's books will be located in the library adjacent to the playground and gardening books will be close to plant beds. Extra books will be donated to the Alameda Free Library. Supplies will be stored at my home in San Leandro and books will be kept at my school in Alameda before they need to be transported.

Planned locations of the three libraries:

Who is this project for?

The Acta Non Verba Youth Urban Farm Project is a nonprofit based around teaching children about the importance of growing food in our society. The project will be helpful because it will provide resources to kids that visit at farm. The Little Libraries will serve as a place for kids to learn more about nature and gardening.

In this day and age, it is important to take breaks from electronics and spend time in the outdoors. Having easily accessible books in the area will allow kids to learn through a different perspective without a screen. In addition, having access to books from a young age is can help improve overall reading comprehension.

How can I help?

In order to make this project a reality, I need to gather donations to raise enough money for purchasing all the required materials and supplies. Remember, anything helps! If you would like to volunteer to help in person (and earn some service hours), please stay tuned for a signup sheet!

I am requesting donations of the following book genres (any language is acceptable)

- Children's

- Nature

- Gardening

- Plants

- Science

- Young Adult

(+ other!)

If you attend SJND High School, please bring books to the Library 11/28-12/20

For other donations please email [email redacted]