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  I did my Eagle Project for a place called Mary's Center. Mary's Center is a nonprofit organization in DC that provides healthcare and social services to families. Mary's center has an outdoor patio that was very rundown. The railing had broken slats, the floor was cracked, the floor had no paint, the paint on the railing was chipping and faded, the ceiling was only partially painted, and there was only one small table in terms of furniture.

The goal of my project was to transform this old-looking, bleak patio into somewhere that looked a lot better and had furniture - a place that both the staff and participants at Mary's Center could enjoy to go outside.

    Work started on July 11th at 9 AM. Lots of scouts and adults showed up to help with the project, which was a good thing because it was going to require a lot of labor. The first thing that we did was fill in the cracks in the concrete floor and replace the broken slats of the railing with new pieces of wood. After that, we started preparing the ceiling to be painted, painting the ceiling, and sanding and preparing the railing to be painted. After that the railing was ready to be painted. Painting the ceiling was very hard work and very slow going, but the scouts got it done. At the same time many of the scouts and adults were working on painting the railing, which turned out very well. By the end of the first day, the railing was fixed, the cracks in the floor were filled, the railing was completely painted and looking great, and the ceiling was partway done being painted.

    We got back to work the following day, again at 9 AM. The first thing we did was finish painting the ceiling. That was done pretty quickly into the second day and then we put the first coat of paint on the floor. While the paint on the floor was drying, the scouts got together to assemble a new picnic table for the patio. The picnic table gave these scouts a little trouble, as all the parts didn't quite fit perfectly, but they got it together eventually. Once the paint on the floor was dry, we added a second coat. While the second coat was drying we had lunch. Once the floor was dry we put int he new picnic table, as well as two planter boxes and a large pot with flowers that we had gotten. By this point all the work was done and the patio looked amazing.

By the time the project was finished, the patio had been completely transformed. The railing went from a fading and chipping dark brown, with broken slats, to a fixed railing with a bright yellow color.The floor went from unpainted, cracked concrete to a nice grey color, and the ceiling went from a half painted old, metal looking ceiling to a uniformly painted red color. And as for furniture, the existing furniture was painted and a new picnic table was installed. New flowers also added to the patio's new look. All in all the project took a lot of hard work, but it completely transformed the patio into a new area that Mary's Center had for staff and participants to enjoy.

Liam K.