Alec Brandel, 17, of Lake Forest, joined Boy Scout Troop 46 seven years ago. He recently built shelving in the attic of the Gorton Community Center as his Eagle Scout service project.
Q. What did the attic at the Gorton Community Center look like before your project?
A. It was very cluttered. There were stacked boxes all over the place, little tricycles from Safety Town (events). The second floor is filled with nonprofits. Each nonprofit has a little space for storage in the attic. The storage was overflowing.
Q. How did you come up with the idea of building shelves at Gorton?
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A. My family has been involved with Gorton for many years. When I first started brainstorming for my Eagle project, I e-mailed (former Gorton Executive Director) Brenda Dick. She gave me some ideas. Right when I walked in the attic, I knew.
Q. Do you have carpentry skills?
A. My family, when were first moved to Lake Forest, we renovated the inside of our house. My father, he’s a big handyman. When we renovated the house, I was involved in cutting wood and moving things.
Q. Where did you get the money for wood and supplies?
A. I had to raise 100 percent of the funds. I reached out to the Rotary Club of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. I gave a speech one morning presenting my project. One person from the audience donated $100 and the club gave me $300. That was the majority of my funds.
Q. Challenges of this project?
A. It’s kind of a complex space. There are pipes on the ground. I had to plan around the pipes. I also had to pay attention to the fire code so items on top shelves wouldn’t be in the way of the sprinklers.
Q. Did you have any help?
Q. I made a Facebook Group. I got a lot of my friends who came and helped, some from my troop.
Q. What tasks are left to earn your Eagle rank?
A. Two more merit badges; communications and emergency preparedness.
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