Hart Baseball Eagle Project

Hello my name is Jacob Kunz, I am an Eagle Scout candidate from Troop 609 located in the Santa Clarita Valley, California. I started out as a Tiger Cub in Cub Scouts at 6 years old and I worked very hard until I was able to complete all of the ranks in Cub Scouts through WEBELOS earning the Arrow of Light Award and Super Achievers Award. I had such a great time as a Cub Scout I decided to bridge over and join the Boy Scouts and I selected Troop 609 because it does so many great High Adventure Backpacking and camping trips. One of the biggest things that I have learned in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts is the importance of being a part of a helpful and positive community. The members of my troop and I volunteer for thousands of hours of community service every year. While working as a volunteer in my community I realized how important it is to do something to make my community a better place for everyone. I was trying to find a great idea for my Eagle Scout project and while watching my younger brother, who is also a future Eagle Scout, hitting in the batting cage at the Hart Baseball fields I saw how bad and dangerous the area in front and along the batting cages are for the players. When it rains the ground gets so muddy and it’s so bad they have to put a wood board over the water and mud in order to get in and out of the cages. The players have nowhere to put their baseball gear because the ground is one giant mud puddle. The coaches and parents can’t get anywhere near the cages to watch the kids hitting. My dad was one of the coaches for my brothers baseball team last year I said to him “wow wouldn’t it be great if they were to put Astroturf around the cages so you wouldn’t be standing in mud all the time and they wouldn’t have to walk across that wooden board to get in and out.“ My dad said that that sounds like a great Eagle Scout project. I knew right then and there that’s what I needed to do for my Eagle Scout project. I have spent the last several months organizing, planning, and getting my approval to do the project. One of the 12 points in the Boy Scout Law says a Boy Scout is “Thrifty” so I tried to get the Astroturf donated from a few businesses in the area around Santa Clarita. I contacted the manager of the Valencia Travel Village, Scott, which is located just off Highway 126 and was the old home for the Santa Clarita Valley baseball league. I asked what they were going to do with the old baseball fields they have at the back of the RV Park. He told me they were getting ready to tear them down and grade it over to put in more recreational vehicle storage. I asked him what he was going to do with the old Astroturf, and he said they were just going to throw it away. I asked if I could have it to recycle it and use it at another baseball field for my Eagle Scout Project. He told me I could have all of it but I had to come remove it on my own. That donation from VTV saved me over $4000. So that is where I’m at now, I am asking for your help to raise enough money to dig out the area around the batting cages put in gravel and sand and install the recycled Astroturf to make the Hart Baseball field batting cages safer and better for the kids who play baseball there. There are a lot of kids who play baseball there who are Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. I will be doing the project with volunteers from my troop and anyone else who is willing and able to help me. Thank you very much for any donation you can make it doesn’t matter how much every dollar counts. Jacob Kunz Eagle Scout Candidate Troop 609