The Ridgewood-Glendale-Middle Village-Maspeth (RGMVM) Little League fields located at 78-11 Woodhaven Blvd. in Glendale got a much-needed cleanup over the weekend thanks to one Boy Scout’s efforts.
In order to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Steve Hansen had to complete a service project for the community. Hansen decided to give back to the little league baseball organization that he played for as a child, the RGMVM Little League.
“It was his idea to do RGMVM because he has played baseball down there since he was young and he wanted to give something back to the group that was so good to him,” said Steven Hansen Sr., Hansen’s father.
Hansen hoped to breathe new life into the fields over a three-day span from July 23 to July 25. The plan involved cleaning and repainting the fields’ six dugouts, painting lines in the batting cages, cleaning up garbage from the surrounding fields, installing bat racks into the dugouts, hanging a sign of the Little League Pledge, and refurbishing the parking lot by pulling weeds in the lot, cutting ivy off of the lot’s fencing and repainting the parking lot lines.
Hansen had to present his project plan and get it approved by both the RGMVM board and the BSA board. Once the project was approved, Hansen was tasked with raising funds for the project, purchasing and getting donations for the supplies needed, recruiting volunteers, and gathering food and beverages for the three-day event.
For the project, Hansen raised over $1,800 in donations from family, friends, neighbors and local organizations such as the Glendale Kiwanis Club.
Volunteers and contributors were current scouts, former scouts, friends and family. Over the course of the cleanup effort, Hansen recruited a total of 24 volunteers, who in total put in 143 man-hours of work.
By the end of the three days the project was nearly complete, with only the installation of the bat racks and the sign to be completed once they arrive.
“This has been a great learning experience. Scouting has been a big part of our family’s life,” said Kerrie Hansen, Steve Hansen’s mother. “We are thrilled Steven has embraced this project with hard work, determination and persistence that he displayed. Eagle Scout projects like this have to have a huge influence on shaping a young man’s life. It is probably one of the most difficult things they ever tackled.”
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